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V O LNE Y's
RUINS,
H. E. BARKER
Lincolniana
1922 South Hobart Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
VOLNEY'S RUINS.
See Herndon's Lincoln, page ^59, •
for an account of thic "book in con-
nection with Lincoln's reading.
"In 18^4, while still living in
New Salem and before he (Lincoln) be-
came a lawyer, he was surrounded by a
class of people exceedingly liberal in
matters of religion. Volney's "Ruins"
and Paine 's ''Age of Feapon" passed from
hand to hand, and furnished food for
the evening's discussion in the tavern
and village store."
vSee also Wm. K. Barton's ^Tne Soul
of Abraha.a Lincoln," pe^ges l^^ 6^, 1^46
and 152, for furtUer .leution of this
work.
If^.^i^^<
i^
\y
FM OWTISJPJLM €JE
' '^//r'/r a// ('/////r /// ("//// o//rr /A'// /^.j//r(// /A/./
THE
R U I N S:
O R 1
A SURVEY
OF THE
REVOLUTI ONS
O F
EMPIRES.
By M. VOLNEY,
INE Of THE DEPUTIES TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF I'jZ^ ,
AKD AUTHOR OF TRAVELS INTO SYRIA AND EGYPT.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH;
THE THIRD EDITION.
I will dwell in folitude amldft the ruins of cities: I will enquire of the
monuiucnts of antiquity, what was the wifdom of former ages : I will
ad: the aihcs of legiflators, what caufes have erefled and overthrown
empires ; what are the principles of national profperity and misfortune:
wha: the maxims upon which the peace of focisty and the happinefs of
man ought to be founded ? Ch. iv. p. 24.
LONDON:'
FRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARa
M.DCC.XCV]
PREFACE.
iThE plan of this fublicatioji was formed
nearly ten years ago ; ana allujions to it may be
feen in the Preface to 'Travels in Syria and
Egypt, as well as at the end of that work^
publijhed in 1787. The performance was in
fome forwardnefs when the events of I'jiZ in
France interrupted it. Perfuaded that a de^
velopement of the theory cf political truth could
not fufficiently acquit a citizen of his debt to
fociety, the author wifed to add pra5ftce -, and
that part icidarly at a time when afingle arm
■ was of confequence in the defence of the general
caufe, The fame defre of public benefit which
induced him to fufpend his work^ has fince en^
gaged him to refurne it-, and though it 7nay ?2ot
pofefs the fa7ne merit as if it had appeared
a 3 under
VI PREFACE.
iU7dc}' the clrcumjtances that ga'ue rife to it,
yet he imagines that at a time ivhen new paf-
ficns are biirjiing forth, pajjions that mil ft com-
mimicate their activity to the religious opinions
of men, it is of importance to difjeminatefuch
7noral truths as are calculated to operate as a
fort of curb and rejiraint. It is with this 'view
he has endeavoured to give to thefe truths,
hitherto treated as ahflraSl, a form likely to
gain them a reception. It was found impofible
not tofock the violent prejudices of fome readers-,
hut the work, fo far from being the fruit of a
diforderly and perturbed fpirit , has been dilated
by afmcere love of order and hiunanity.
After reading this performance it will he
afked,, how it was poj/ible, in 1784, /^ have' had
an idea of what did not take place till the year
1790 ? The fohition is fimple : in the original
plan, the legifator was afclitious and hypo-
thetical being : in the prefent, the author has
fubfituted an exiJUng legifator -, and the re-
ality has only made the fuhjccl additionally
interefing.
I N V O-
I N VO C ATIO R
Solitary Ruins, facred Tombs,
ye mouldering and filent Walls, all
hail ! To you I addrefs my Invoca-
tion. While the vulgar llirink from
your afpeft v/ith fecret terror, my
heart finds in the contemplation a
thouland delicious fentiments, a thou-
fand admirable rccolleilions. Preg-
nant, I may truly call you, with ufeful
iefibns, with pathetic and irrefiftible
a 4 advice
viii INVOCATION-
advice to the man who knows how
to confuit you. A while ago the
whole world bowed the neck in
filence before the tyrants that op-
preffed it ; and yet in that hopelefs
moment you already proclaimed the
truths that tyrants hold in abhor-
rence : mixing the duft of the proud -
eft kings with that of the meaneft
ilaves, you called upon us to contem-
plate this example of e qu a l i t y . From
your caverns, whither the mufing
and anxious love of Lteerty led me,
I fav/ efcape its venerable fliade, and
with unexpected felicity direct its
flight, and marflhal my fteps the way
to renovated France.
Tombs,
INVOCATION. ix
'1
Tombs, what virtues and potency
do you exhibit ! Tyrants tremble at
your afpeft ; you poifon with fecret
alarm their impious pleafures ; they
turn from you with impatience, and,
coward like, endeavour to forget you
amid the fumptuoufnefs of their pa-
laces. It is you that bring home the
rod of juftice to the powerful op-
preffor ; it is you that wreft the ilI->
gotten gold from the mercilefs ex-
tortioner, and avenge thecaufe of him
that has none to help ; you com-
penfate the narrow enjoyments of
the poor, by dafhing with care the
goblet of the rich ; to the unfortu-
nate you ofter a iaft and inviolable
aiylum ;
X INVOCATION.
afylum ; in fine, you give to the
foul that juft equilibrium of ftrength
and tendernefsj which conftitutes the
wifdom of the fage and the fcience
of life. The wife man looks tov/ards
you, and fcorns to amafs vain gran-
deur and ufelefs riches with which
he mud foon part : you check his
lawlefs flio'hts, without difarminp* his
adventure and his courage : he feels
the neceffity of pafnng through the
period affigned him, and he gives
employment to his hours, and makes
ufe of the goods that fortune has af-
figned him. Thus do you rein in
the wild fallies of cupidity, calm the
fever of tumultuous enjoyment, free
the
INVOCATION. xi
the mind from the anarchy of the
paflions, and raife it above thofe little
interefts which torment the mafs of
mankind. We afcend the eminence
you afFord us, and, viewing with one
glance the limits of nations and the
fucceffion of ages, are incapable of
any affedions but fuch as are fublime,
and entertain no ideas but thofe of
virtue and glory. Alas ! when this
uncertain dream of life fiiall be over,
v/hat then will avail all our bufy paf-
fions, unlefs they have left behind
them the footfteps of utility !
Ye Ruins, I v/ill return once more
to attend your leffons ! I will refume
my place in the midfl of your wide
fpreading
xli INVOCATION.
fpreading folitude. I will leave the
tragic fcene of the paffions, will love
my fpecies rather from recolle6tion
than adual furvey, will employ my
activity in promoting their happinefs,
afid compofe my ov^^n happinefs of
the pleafing remembrance that I have
haftened theirs.
CONTENTS.
CONTENTS.
Chap. I.
JL H E Toui - - - z page i
Chap. II.
Meditations - - - :^ ^ 6
Chap. III.
The Apparition - - r. ^14
Chap. IV.
The Hemifphere - - - - 23
Chap. V.
Condition of man in the Univerfe - "33
Chap. VI.
Original ftate of Man - - ''37
Chap. VII.
Principles of Society - - * 40
Chap. VIII.
Source of the evils of Society ^ - - 44
Chap.
2iV C O N T E N T S. -
Chap. IX.
Origin of Government and Laws - - page 48
Chap. X.
General caufes of the profperity of Nations - 53
Chap. XI.
General caufes of the prof!:)erity and ruin of ancient
States -------61
Chap. X[I.
Leflbns tauglit by ancient, repeated in modern Times 77
C H A p. XIII.
-Will the Fiuman Race be ever in a better condition
than at prefent ? ■ ;- .7 -si-t.^; - l= - ^^3
Chap. XIV.
Grasid cbflacle to LriprovemeiiL - » - 1 1 f
00 . .- Chap. XV.
New Age - - - - - - 125
Chap. X\'I.
'A free and legiflative Pecplc - - - 132
Chap. XVII.
Univerfal bafis of all Right and all Law - - 13^
Chap. XVIIL
Ccnfleinationandconfpiracy o; Tyranrs - - 141
Ckap. XIX.
Generai aHembly of the people - - J 4^
5 Chap.
CONTENTS. XY
Chap. XX.
Inveftigation of Truth - - _ - page 154.
Chap. XXI.
Problem of religious contradidions - - 172
Chap. XXII.
Origin and genealogy of religious ideas - 2i8
S E C T. I.
%' Origin of the idea of God: worfhip of the elements
and the phyfical powers of Nature - - 226
S E C T. II.
Second {"jVitm. : Worfliip of the ftars, or Sabeifm 231
Sect. III.
Third fydem : Worfhip of fymbols, or Idolatry 237
Sect. IV.
Fourth fy(km ; Worfhip of two principles, or
Dualifm ----- . 253
Sect. V.
M){Hcal or moral worfliip, or the fyftem of a future
ilate - - , .... 259
Sect. VI.
oixth fyilem: the animated World, or worfhip of
the univerfe under different emblems - - 266
Sect. VII.
Seventh fyflern : V/orfhip of the Soul of the
V/oRLD, that is, the element of fire, the vital
principle of the univerfe - - 271
Sect.
xvi CONTENTS.
Sect. VIII.
Eighth fyflem : The world a machine : worfhi'p of
the Demi-ourgos, or fupreme artificer pa;^e 274
Sect. IX.
Religion of Mofes, or worfhip of the foul of the
world (You- niter) - _ .
Sect. X.
Religion of Zoroafter - - - -
Sect. XI.
Budoifm, or religion of the Samr.neans - 282
Sect. XII.
Braniinifm, or the Indian fyftem - - ibid.
Sect. X II.
Chriftianity, or the allegorical worfnip of the fun
itnder the cabaliftical names of Chris-en cr
Christ, and Yes us or Jesus - - 283
Chap. XXIII.
End of all Religions the fame - - 297
Chap. XXIV.
Solution of the problem of contradiclions - 315
THE
t H E
R U I N S:
gA SURVEY OF THE REVOLUTIONS
m OF EMPIRES.
CHAP. I.
THE TOUR.
N the eleventh year of the reign of Abd-iil
HamidjfonofAhmed, emperor of the Turks 5
when the Nogaian Tartars were driven from
the Crimea, and a Muffuhnan prince, of the
blood of GengisKhan, became the vaffal and
^i^jr^/ofa woman, aChriftian,and a queen*;
I journeyed in the empire of the Ottomans,
and traverfed the provinces which formerly
were kingdoms of Egypt and of Syria.
* That is to fay, in the year 1784. The reader is re-
quefted not to lofe fight of this epocha. See the notes at
the end of the volume*,
B Dire<'T:ing
2 A SURVEY OF THE
DirecfLing all my attention to what con-
cerns the happinefs of mankind in a ilate of
fociety, I entered cities, and ftudied the man-
ners of their inhabitants 3 I gained admiffion
into palaces, and obferved the condud:!; of
thofe who govern; I wandered over the
country, and examined the condition of the
peafants: and no Vv^here perceiving aught
but robbery and devaft^tion, tyranny and
wretchednefs, my heart w^as opprefled v/ith
forrow and indignation.
Every day I found in my route fields aban-
doned by the plough, villages deferted, and
cities in ruins. Frequently I met with an-
tiquemonuments^ wrecks of temples, pa-
laces, and fortifications; pillars, aquedufe,
fepulchres. By thefe objects my thoughts
v^^ere directed to pail ages, and my mind ab-
forbed in ferious and profound meditation.
Arrived at Hamfa on the borders of the
Orontes, and being at no great diilance from
the city of Palmyra, fituated in the defert, I
refolved to exam.ine for myfelf its boafled
m.onuments. After three days travel in bar-
ren folitude, and having palled through a
valley filled with grottoes and tombs, my
6 eyes
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 3
eyes were fuddenly flruck, on leaving this
valley and entering a plain, with a moft afto-
nifhing fcene of ruins. It confilled of a
countlefs multitude of faperb columns fl:and-
ing ereft, and which, like the avenues of our
parks, extended in regular files farther than
the eye could reach. Among thefe columns
magnificent edifices were obfervable, fome
entire, others in aflate half demoliflied. The
ground Vv^as covered on all fides with frag-
ments of iimilar buildings, cornices, capitals,
fhafts, entablatures, and pilafters, all con-
flrufed of a marble of admirable v/hitenefs
and exquifite workmanlliip. After a walk of
three quarters of an hour along thefe ruins,
I entered the incloiure of a vafl: edifice which
had formerly been a temple dedicated to the
fun ; and I accepted the hofpitality of fome
poor Arabian peafants, v/ho had efcablifhed
their huts in the very area of the temple.
Here I reibived for fome days to remain, that
I might contemplate, at leifare, the beauty
of fo many ftupendous works.
Every day I vifited fome of the monu-
ments which covered the plain ; and one
evening that,mym.2nd lofl in refledlion, I had
B 2 advanced
4. A SURVEY OF THE
advanced as far as the Valley of Sepulchres ^ I
alcended the heights that bound it, and from
which the eye commands at once the whole
of the ruins and the immenfity of the defert.
... The fun had juil funk below the horizon;
a ftreak of red ilill marked the place of his
defcent, behind the diftant mountains of Sy-
ria : the full moon, appearing with bright-
nefs upon a ground of deep blue, rofe in the
eail from the fmooth bank of the Euphrates:
the fky was unclouded; the air calm and
ferene ; the expiring light of day ferved to
foften the horror of approaching darknefs >
the refreihing breeze of the night gratefully
relieved the intolerable fultrinefs of the day
that had preceded it ; the ihepherds had led
the camels to their flails; the grey firmament
bounded the filent landfcape ; through the
whole defert every thing v/as m.arked with
flilinefsj undiflurbed but by the mournful
cries of the bird of night, and of fome cha-
cah *. . . . The dulk increafed, and already I
could diflin8:uini nothino; more than the
^t>'
'•^ An animal confiderably like the fox, but lefs cunnings
and of a frightful alpeci. It lives upon dead bodies,
^nd recks and ruins are the places of its habitation,
pale
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 5
•pale phantoms of walls and columns. . ..The
folitarinefs of the iituatlon, the ferenity of
evening, and the grandeur of the fcene, im-
prefled my mind with religious thoughtful-
nefs. The view of an illuilrious city de-
ferted, the remembrance of pafl times, their
comparifon with the prcfent ftate of things,
all combined to raife my heart to a ftrain of
fublime meditations. I fat down on the bafe
of a column ; and there,, my elbow on my
knee, and my head refting on my hand,
fometimes turning my eyes towards the de-
fert, and fometimes fixing them on the
iTuins, I fell into a profound reverie.
E 3 CHAP.
6 A SaRVEY OF THE
CHAP. IL
MEDITATIONS.
XiERE, faid I to myfelf, an opulent city
once flourifhed -, this was the feat of a power-
ful empire. Yes, thefe places, now fo defert,
a living multitude formerly animated, and
an adcive c^^vvd circulated in the flreets
which at prelent are fo folitary. Within
thofe walls, where a mournful filence reigns,
the noife of the arts and the iliouts of joy
and feftiviry continually refounded. 1 hefe
heaps of marble formed regular palaces, thefe
profiira'ie pillars wei-e the majeflic orna-
ments of temples, thefe ruinous galleries pre-
fent the outlines of public places. There a
num.eroLis people allembled for the refpedt-
able duties of its worihip, or the anxious
cares of its fubfiflence : there induflry, the
fruirfal inventor of iburces of enjoyment,
collecfted together the riches of eveiy climate,
and the purple of Tyre was exchanged for
the precious thread of Serica ; tiie foft tiffjes
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. J
of Caffimere for the fumptuous carpets of
Lydia; the amber of the Baltic for the
pearls and perfumes of Arabia ; the gold of
Ophir for the pewter of Thule (^). . . . -
And now a mournful fkeleton is all that
fubfifls of this opulent city, and nothing re-
mains of its powerful government but a vain
and obfcure remembrance ! To the tumul-
tuous throng which crowded under thefe
porticos, the folitude of death has fucceeded.
The filence of the tomb is fubflituted for
the hum of public places. The opulence of
a commercial city is changed into hideous
poverty. The palaces of kings are become
the receptacle of deer, and unclean reptiles
inhabit the fanctuary of the Gods. . . .What
glory is here eclipfed, and how m.any labours
are annihilated ! . . . Thus peri ill the works
of men, and thus do nations and empires
vanifli away !
The hiftory of pafl: times flrongly pre-
fented itfelf to my thoughts. I called to
mind thofe diftant ages v/hen twenty cele-
brated nations inhabited the country around
me. I pidurcd to myfelf the AiTyrian on
the banks of the Tygris, the Chaldean on
B 4 thofe
S A SURVEY OF THE
thofe of the Euphrates, the Pedian v/hofe
power extended from the Indus to the Me-
diterranean. I enumerated the kingdoms of
Damafcus and Idumea ; of Jerufalem and
Samaria ; and the warlike ftates of the Phi-
liftines ; and the commercial republics of
Phenicia. This Syria, faid I to myfelf, now
almofl depopulated, then contained a hun-
dred flouFifhing cities, and abounded with
towns, villages, and hamlets (^). Every
where one might have fcQii cultivated fields,
frequented roads, and crowded habitations.
Ah ! what are become of thofe ages of
abundance and of life ? What are become of
fo many produdions of the hand of man ?
Where are thofe ramparts of Nineveh, thofe
walls of Babylon, thofe palaces of Perfepolis^
thofe temples of Eaibec and of Jerufalem ?
Where are thofe fleets of Tyre, thofe dock-
yards of Arad, thofe work-fliops of Sidon,
and that multitude of mariners, pilots, mer-
chants, and foldiers ? Where thofe huiband-
men, thofe harvefts, that picture of animated
nature of which the earth feemed proud ?
Alas ! I have traverfed this defolate country,
I have vifited the places that were the
theatre
HEVOLUTICNS OF EMPIRES. 9
theatre of fo much fplendour^ and I have
nothing beheld but folitude and defertion 1 I
looked for thofe ancient people and their
^'orks, and all I could find was a faint trace,
like to what the foot of a paiTenger leaves on
the fand. The temoles are thrown down,
the palaces demolifhed, the ports filled v.'Oy
the towns defircyed, and the earth, ftript of
inhabitants, feems a dreary burying-place,
. . . .Great God ! from whence proceed fuch
-melancholy revolutions ? For what caufe is
the fortune of thefe countries fo flrikingly
changed ? Why are fo many cities deflroy-
ed ? Why is not that ancient population
re-produced and perpetuated ?
Thus abforbed in contemplation, new
ideas continually prefented themfelves to my
thoughts. Every thing, continued I, mif-
leads my judgment, and fills my heart with
trouble and uncertainty. When thefe coun-
tries enjoyed what conilitutes the glory and
felicity of mankind, they were an unbelieving
people v/ho inhabited them : it was the Phe-
nician, offering human facrifices to Moloch,
who brought together within his walls the
liches of cvei-y climate J it was the Chaldean^
proilrating
lO A SURVEY OF THE
proflrating himfelf before a fcrpent ^, who
iiibjugated opulent cities, and laid wafte the
palacesof kings and the temples of the Gods;
it was the Perlian, the wcrihipper of lire,
who collected the tributes of a hundred na-
tions; they were the inhabitants of this very
city, adorers of the {'an and flars, who eredted
fo many monuments of affluence and luxury.
Numerous flocks, fertile fields, abundant
harvefls, every thing that fl:jould have been
the reward oi piety y was in the hands oiidola^
ters: and nov/ that a believing and holy peo-
ple occupy the countries, nothing is to be
feen but foiitude and fterility. The earth
under thefe blejjedh^nds produces only briars
and wormv/ocd. Man fow^s m anguiih, and
reaps vexation and cares ; war, famine, and
peftilence, affault him in turn. Yet, are net
thefe the children of the prophets ? This
Chriftian, thisMuilulman, this Jew, are they
not the eled; of Heaven, loaded with gifts
and miracles ? Whv then is this race, belov-
ed of the Divinity, deprived of the favours
which were formerly fhowered upon the
* The dragon Bel.
Heathen r
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. IT
Heathen? Why do the fe lands, cofe crated
by the blood of the martyrs, no 1 nger boaft
their former temperature and fertility ? Why
have thofe favours been banifhed as it were,
and transf -rred for fo many ages to other
nationo and different climes ?
And here, purfuing the courfe of viciffi-
tudes v^hich have in turn tranfmitted the
fceptre of the worid to people fo various in
manners and religion, from thofe of ancient
Aiia dowito the more recent ones of Europe,
my native country, defignated by this name,
was awakened in my mind, and turning my
eyes towards it, all my thoughts fixed upon
the lituation in which I had left it *.
I recolleded its fields fo richly culti-
vated, its roads fo admirably executed, its
towns inhabited by an immenfe multitude,
its fhips fcattered over every ocean, its ports
filled with the produce of either India; and
comparing the adlivity of its commerce, the
extent of its navigation, the magnificence of
its buildings, the arts and induflry of its in-
habitants, with all that Egypt and Syria
^ In the year 1 782, at the clofe of the American war.
could
12 A SURVEY OF THE
could formerly boafl of a fimilar nature, I
pleafed myfelf with the idea that I had found
in modern Europe the pail fplendour of Afia :
But the charm of my reverie was prefently
diffolved by the laft flep in the comparilbn.
Refled:ing that if the places before me had
once exhibited this animated pidlure : who,
faid I to myfelf, can alfure uie that their
prefent defolation will not one day be the lot
of our own country ? who knows but that
hereafter fome traveller like myfelf will fit
down upon the banks of the Seine, the
Thames, or the Zuyder fea, where now, in
the tumult of enjoyment, the heart and the
eyes are too flow to take in the multitude of
fenfations ; who knows but he will fit down
folitary amid filent rains, and weep a people
inurned, and their greataefs changed into an
empty name ?
The idea brought tears into my eyes ,: and
covering my head with the flap of my gar-
ment, I gave myfelf up to the moil gloomy
meditations on human affairs. Unhappy
man ! faid I in my grief, a blind fatality plays
with thy defliny [c) ! a fatal neceffity rules
by chance the lot of mortals ! But, no : they
are
REVOLOTIONS OF EMPIRES. I3
are the decrees of celejflial. jullice that are
accomplifhing ! A myfterious God exerclfes
his incompreheniible iij^gments ! he has
doubtiefs pronounced A fecrct maledidion
againfl: the earth ; he has flruck with a curfe
the prefent race oilmen, in revenge of pafl
generations. Oh ! who fliall dare to fathom
the depths of the Divinity ?
And I remained immoveable, plunged in
profound melancholy.
CHAPc
14 A SURVEY OF THE
CHAP. III.
THE APPARITION.
In the mean time a noife flruck my ear,
like to the agitation of a flowing robe, and
the flow fl:eps of a foot, upon the dry and
rufl:ling grafs. Alarmed, I drew my m.antle
from my head ; and cafting round me a timid
glance, fuddenly,^ by the obfcure light of the
moon, through the pillars and ruins of a
temple, I thought I faw, at my left, a pale
apparition, enveloped in an imm.enie dra-
pery, flmilar to what fpedcres are painted
when iflTuing out of tne tombs, I fhuddered ;
and while in this troubled fl:ate, I was hefl-
tating whether to fly, or afcertain the reality
of the viflon, a hollow voice, in grave and
folemn accents, thus addrefled me :
How long will man importune the heavens
with un]^ complainj? How long, with vain
clamours, will he accufe Fate as the author of
his, calamities ? Will he then never open his
eyes
REVOLUTIONS OF ExMPJRES. 1 5
eyes to the light, and his heart to the intin-j-
ations of truth and reafon ! This truth every-
where prefents itfelf in radiant bri,s:htn£fi ;
and he docs not fee it ! The voice of reafoa
ftrikes his ear ; and he does not hear it ! Uii-
]u{k man ! if you can for a moment fufpend
the deluiion which fafcinates your fenfes ; if
your heart be capable of comprehending the
language of argumentation, interrogate thefe
ruins ! read the leffons which they prefent to
you !....And you, facred temples! venerable
tombs ! walls once glorious ! the witneffrs of
tv/enty different ages, appear in the caufe of
nature herfelf ! corne to the tribunal of found
underftanding, to bear teftimony againfc an
unjull; accufation, to confound the declama-
tions of falfe wifdom or hypocritical pietjy,
and avenge the heavens and the earth of
man who calumniates them !
What is this blind fataUty, that, without
order or laws, fports with the lot of mortals ?
What this unjud: necefiity, which confounds
the ilTue of actions, be they thofe of prudence
or thofe of folly ? In what coniifts the male-
didlions of Heaven denounced againft thefe
countries ? Where is the divine curfe that
perpetuates
ID A SURVEY OF THE
perpetuates this fcene of defolation ? Monii-*
ments of paft ages ! fay, have the heavens
changed their lav^s, and the earth its courfe ?
Has the fun extingulflied his fires in the
region of fpace ? Do the feas no longer fend
forth clouds ? Are the rain and the dew fixed
in the air ? Do the mountains retain their
fprings ? Are the fcreams dried up ? and do
the plants no more bear fruit and feed ? An-
Aver, race of falfehood and iniquity, has God
troubled the primitive and invariable order
which he himfelf affigned to nature ? Has
heaven denied to the earth, and the earth to
its inhabitants, the bleffings that were for-
merly difpenied ? If the creation has re-
mained tlie fame, if its fources and its inflru-
mients are exadly v/hat they once were,
wherefore iliould not the prefent race have
every thing v/ithin their reach that their
ancellors enjoyed ? Falfely do you accufe
Fate and the Divinity: injurioully do you re-
fer to God the caufe of your evils. Tell me,
perverfe and hypocritical race, if thefe places
are dcfolate, if powerful cities are reduced to
folitude, i^it he that has occafioned the
ruin ? Is it his hand that has thrown down
thefe
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 17
thefe v/alls, Tapped thefe temples, mutilated
thefe pillars ? or is it the hand of man ? Is it
the arm of God that has introduced the
fword into the city andfet fire to thecc?untry,
murdered the people, burned the harvefls,
rooted up the trees, and ravaged thepaftures?
or is it the arm of man ? And Vv^hen, after
this devaflation, famine has ftarted up, is it
the vengeance of God that has fent it, or the_
mad fury of mortals ? When,' during the
famine, the people are fed v/ith unvvholefome
provilion,and peftiience enfues, is it infli6led
by the anger of Heaven, or brought about by
human imprudence ! When war, famine, and
peflilence united have fwept avv^ay the inha-
bitants, and the land is become a defert, is it
God v/ho has depopulated it? Is it his rapa-
city that plunders the labourer, ravages the
produdiive fields, and lays wallie the coun-
try ; or the rapacity of thofe who govern ?
Is it his pride that creates murderous wars,
or the pride of kings and their minifters ? Is
it the venality of his decifions that overthrows
the fortune of families, or the venality of the
organs of the laws? Are they his paffions
that, under a thoufand forms, torment in-
C dividuals
I'B A SURVEY OF THE
dividuals and nations ; or the paffions of
human beings ? And if in the anguiih of
their misfortunes they perceive not the re-
medies, is it the ignorance cf God that is in
fault, or their own ignorance ? Ceaie, then,
to accufe the decrees of Fate or the judg-
ments of Heaven ! If God is good, will he
be the author of your punifhment? If he
is juil, will he be the accomplice of your
crimes? No, no; the caprice of which man
complains, is not the caprice of deftiny: the
darknefs that miileads his reafon, is not the
darknefs of God; the fource of his calamities,
is not in the diflant heavens, but near to
him upon the earth, it is not concealed in
the bofom of the divinity; it reiides in him-
felf, man bears it in his heart.
You murmur, and fiy: Why have an un-
believing people enjoyed the bleffings of hea-
ven and of the earth ? Why is a holy and chofen"
race lefs fortunate than impious generations ?
Deluded man ! where is the ccntradicflion at
which you take offence ? Where tlie incon-
iiftency in which you fuppofe the juflice of
God to be involved ? Take the balance of
bleffings and calamities^ of caufes and effedrs,
and
Devolutions of empires. 19
and tell me — -When thofe infidels obferved
the laws of the earth and the heavens, when
they regulated their intelligent labours by the
order of the feafons and the courfe of the
flars, ought God to have troubled the equili-
brium of die world to defeat their prudence ?
When they cultivated v/ith care and toil the
fsce of the country around you, ought he to
have turned afide the rain, to have withheld
the fertilizing dews, and caufed thorns to
fpring up ? When, to render this parched
and barren foil producftive, their induftry
conftruded aqueducts, , dug canals, and
brought the diflant waters acrofs the deferts,
ought he to have blighted the harvefts which
art had created; to have defolated a country
that had been peopled in peace; to have de-
molifhed the towns which labour had caufed
to iiourifh ; in fine, to have deranged' and
confounded the order eitabliflied by the
wifdom of man ? And what is this infulclitj
which founded empires by prudence, de-
fended them by courage, and ftrengthened
them byjuflice; which raifed magnificent
cities, formed vafl ports, drained peftilential
marihes, covered the fea with {}iip3,the earth
C 2 with
20 A SURVEY OF THE
with inhabitants, and, hke the creative fpirit,
diffufed life and motion through the world.
If fuch is impiety, what is true belief? Dees
holinefs confiil in deflru-flion ? Is then the
God that peoples the air with birds, ths
earth with animals, and the waters with rep-
tiles; the God that animates univerfal na-
ture, a God that delights in ruins and fepul-
chres ? Does he alk devaftation for homage,
and confiag:ration for facrifice ? Would he
have groans for hymns, murderers to worfhip
him, and a defert and ravaged world for his
temple ? Yet fuch, holy 2Sidifaithjiil genera-
tion, are your v/orks ! Thele are the fruits
of )^ur piety ! You have mafTacred the peo-
ple, reduced cities to aihes, deftroyed all
traces of cultivation, made the earth a foli-
tude; and you demand the reward of your la-
bours! Miracles are not too much for your
advantage ! For you the peafants that you
have murdered Ihould be revived ; the walls
you have thrown down iliould rife again ; the
harvefts you have ravaged (hould flouriih; the
conduits that you have broken down {hould
be renewed ; the laws of heaven and earth,
thok laws which God has eftabliflied for the
dilplay
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 21
difplay of his greatnefs and his magnificence,
thofe laws anterior to all revelations and to
all prophets, thofe laws which paffion cannot
alter, and ignorance cannot pervert, Hiould
be fuperfeded. Pafilon knov^^s them not ;
ignorance, which obferves no caufe and pre-
dicts no eff-^cl, has faid in the fooliflinefs of
her heart : ** Every thing comes from
*' chance; a blind fatality diftributes good
** and evil upon the earth ; fuccefs is not to
'* the prudent, nor felicity to the v/ife." Or
elfe, affuming the language of hypocriiy,
file has faid : *' Every thing comes from
*^ God ; and it is his fovereign pleafure to
'^ deceive the fage, and to confound the
" judicious." And flie has contemplated
the imaginary fcene with complacency.
*' Good !'* flie has exclaimed. '*' I then am
*' as well endowed as the fcience that de-
*' fpifes me ! The cold prudence which
^^ evermore haunts and torments me, I w^ill
*^ render ufelefs by a lucky intervention of
« Providence." Cupidity has joined the
chorus. " I too will opprefs the weak ; I
*^ will wring from him the fruits of his
*' labour : for fuch is the decree of Heaven,
C 3 <' fuch
22 A SURVEY OF THE
'* fuch the omnipotent will of fate." — For
myfelf, I fwear by all laws human and divine>
by the laws of the human heart, that the
hypocrite and the deceiver fhall be them-
felves deceived; the unjuflman fhall peri ih
in his rapacity, and the tyrant in liis_ufurpa«-
tion : the fun ihall change its courfe, before
folly fhall prevail over wifdom and fcience,
before ftupidity fliall furpafs prudence in the
delicate art of procuring to man his true
enjoyments, and of building his happinefs
upon a folid foundation.
Q H A P,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 23
C H A P. IV.
THE HEMISPHERE*
1 H u s fpoke the Apparition. Aftoniflied
at his difcourfe, and my heart agitated by a
diverfity of refledlions, I was for fome time
filent. At length, affuming the courage to
fpeak, I thus addreffed him : O Genius of
tombs and ruins ! your fudden appearance
and your feverity have thrown my fenfcs into
diforder, but the juflnefs cf your reafoning
reftores confidence to my foul. Pardon my
ignorance. Alas ! if man is blind, can that
which conftitutes his torment be alfo his
crime ? I was unable to diftinguiOi the voice
of reafon 5 but the moment it was known to
me, I gave it welcome. Oh ! if you can read
my heart, you know how deiirous it is of
truth, and with what ardour it feeks it; you
know that it is in this purfuit I am now found
in thefe remote places. Alas ! I have wan-
dered over the earth,,I have vifited cities and
C 4 countries ;
24 A SURVEY OF THE
countries; and perceiving every where mi-
fery and deiblation, the fentiment of the evils
by which my fellow creatures are tormented
has deeply afHidled my mind ! I have iaid to
myfelf with a figh: Is man, then, created to
be the vidim of pain and ani'uiih? And I
have meditated upon human evils, tliat I
might iind cut their remedy. I have faid, I
will feparate myfelf from corrupt focieties ;
I will remove' far from palaces where the foul
is depraved by fatiety^., and from cottages
where it is humbled by mifery. I will dwell
in folitude amidil: the ruins of cities : I will
enquire of the monum.ents of antiquity Vvdiat
was the wifdom of former ages : in the very
bofom of fepulchres I will invoke the fpi-
rit that formerly in Afia gave fplendcur to
ftates and glory to their people: J w^ill en-
quire of the aflies of legillators what cauics
have eredted and overthrown empires; what
are the principles of national profpcrity and
misfortune; what the maxims upon which
the |.-eace of fociety and the happinefs of
man cuc;ht to be flounded.
I ftoDi^ed ; and caflinp; dov/n my eves, I
waited the reply of the Genius. Peace and
happinefs.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 2^
happinefs^ laid he, defcend upon him who
pradlfes juflice ! Young man, fmce your
heart fearches after truth with Sincerity- fince
you can diftinguifh her form through the mift
of prejudices v^/'hich blind the eyes, your en-
quiry fliall not be vain : I will difplay to your
view this truth of which you are in purfuit;
I will iliow to your reafon the knowledge
which you defire ; I will reveal to you the
wifdom of the tombs, and the fcience of ages
— Then approaching me, and placing his
hand upon my head. Rife, mortal, faid he,
and difengage yourfelf from that corporeal
frame with which you are incumbered — In-^
flantly, penetrated as with a celeflial flame,
the ties that fix us to the earth feemed to
be loofened ; and lifted by the wing of the
Genius, I felt myfelf like a light vapour con-
veyed in the uppermoft region. There,
from above the atmofphere, looking down
towards the earth I had quitted, I beheld a
fcene entirely new. Under my feet, float-
ing in empty fpace, a globe fimilar to that
of the moon, but fmaller, and lefs luminous,
prefented to me one of its faces *; and this
# See Plate I. reprefenting half the terreflrial globe.
face
26 A SURVEY OF THE
face had the appearance of a diik varicgat- -
ed with fpots, fome of them white and ne-
bulous, others brown, green and grey ; and
w^hile I exerted my powers in difcerning
and difcriminating thefe fpots — Dilciple of
truth, faid the Genius to me, have you any
recolledion of this fpedtacle ? O Genius, I
repUed, if 1 did not perceive the moon in a
different part of the heavens, I fliould fup-
pofe the orb below m.e to be that planet ; for
its appearance refembles perfedly the mcori
viewed through a telefcope at the time of an
eclipfe : one might be apt to think the va-
riegated fpots to be feas and continents.
Yes, Lid he to m^e, they are the feas and
continents of the very hemifphere you in-
habit.
What, exclaimed I, is that the Earth that
is inhabited by Jiuman beings ?
It is,rep]ied he. That brow^n fpace which
occupies irregularly a confiderable portion of
the difk, and nearly furrounds it on all fides,
is what you call the m.ain ccean, which,
from the fouth pole advancing towards the
equator, firft forms the great gulf of Africa
and India, then ftretches to the eaft acrofs
the Malay Iflands, as far as the confines of
^ . Tartary,
REVOtUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 27
Tartary, while at the weft it inclofes the
continents of Africa and of Europe, reach-
ing to the north of Afia.
Under our feet, that peninfula of a fquare
figure is the defert country of Arabia, and
on the left you perceive that great continent,
fcarcely lefs barren in its interior parts, and
only verdant as it approaches the fea, the in-
habitants of which are diftinguiftied by a
fable complexion ^'. To the north, and on
the other fidt of an irregular and narrow
fea-j-', are the tradls of Europe, rich in fertile
meadows and in all the luxuriance of culti-
vation. To the right from the Cafpian, ex-
tend the rugged furface and fnow-topt hills
of Tartary. In bringing back the eye again
to the fpot over which we are elevated, you
fee a large white fpace, the melancholy and
uniform defert of Gobi, cutting off the em-
pire of China from the refl of the world.
China itfelf is that furrowed furface which
feems by a fudden obliquity to efcape from
the viev/. Farther on, thofe vail tongues of
jand and fcattered points, are the peninfula,
* Africa. f The Mediterranean,
and
28 A SURVEY Ox^^ THE
and illands of the Malayans, the unfortunate
proprietors of aromatics and perfumes. S till
Bearer you obfcrve a triangle which projedls
flrongly into the fea, and is the too famous
peninfula of India (^/). You fee the crook-
ed windings of the Ganges, the ambitious
mountains of Thibet, the fortunate valley
of Cafrimere (12), the difccuraging deferts
of Perfia, the banks of the Euphrates, and
the Tigris, the rough bed of the Jordan (4),
znd the mouths of the folitary Nile. (See
the Plate.)
O Genius, faid I, interrupting him, the
organ of a mortal w^ould in vain attempt to
diftinguifhobjedls at fo great a diiiance. Im-
mediately he touched my eyes, and they be-
camt more piercing than thofe of the eagle ^
notwithflanding which rivers appeared to me
nom.ore than meandering ribbons, ridges of
miountains irregular furrows, and great cities
a nefi: of boxes varied among themfelves like
the fquares in a chefs-board.
The Genius proceeded to point out the
different objedis to me with his finger, and
to develope them as he proceeded. Thefe
heaps of ruins, faid he, that you obferve in
this
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 2^
this narrow valley, laved by the Nile, are all
that remain of the opulent cities that gave
laflre to the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia (^)-
Here is the monument of its fplendid metro-
polis, Thebes with its hundred palaces {/),
the progenitor of cities, the memento of hu-
man frailty. It was there that a people,
iince forgotten, difcovered the elements of
fcience and art, at a time when all other men
were barbarous, and that a race, now regard-
ed as the refufe of fociety, becaufe their hair
is woolly, and their fkin is dark, explored
among the phenomena of nature, thofe civil
and religious fyilems which have iince held
mankind in awe. A little lower the dark
fpots that you obferve are the pyramids ( i )
whofe maiTes have overwhelmed your ima-
gination. Farther on, the coafl: (3 ) that you
behold limited by the fea on one fide, and
by a ridge of mountains on the other, was
the abode of the Phenician nations ; there
flood the powerful cities of Tyre, Sidon,
Afcalon, Gaza, and Berytus. This ftream
of water, which feemis to difembogue itfelf
into no fea (4), is the Jordan , and thefe bar-
ren xQoks were formerly the fcene of events,
whofe
36 A SURVEY OF THE
whofc tale may not be forgotten. Here you
find the defert of Horeb, and the hill of Si-
nai (5), where, by artifice which the vulgar
were unable to penetrate, a fubtle and dar-
ing leader gave birth to inftltutions of me-
morable influence upon the hifcory of man-
kind. Upon the barren llrip of land which
borders upon this defert, you fee no longer
any trace of fplendour; and yet here was
formerly the magazine of the world. Here
were the ports of the Idumeans {g), from
whence the fleets of the Phenicians and the
jews, coafting the peninfula of Arabia, bent
their voyages to the Perfian gulf, and im-
ported from thence the pearls of Havila, the
gold of Saba and Ophir. It was here, on
the fide of Oman and Bahrain, that exifled
that fite of magnificent and luxurious com-
merce, Vv'hich, as it was tranfplanted from
country to country, decided upon the fate of
ancient nations. Hither were brought the
vegetable aromatics, and the precious fi:ones
of Ceylon, the fhav/ls of Caffimere, the dia-
monds of Golconda, the amber of the Mal-
dives, the muflc of Thibet, the aloes of Co-
chin, the apes and the peacocks of the con-
, , - tinent
KEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. JI
tiiTent of India, the incenfe of Hadramut,
the myrrh, the filver, the gold daft, and the
ivory of Africa. From hence were export-
ed, fometim.es by the Black Sea, in fliips of
E?ypt and Syria, thefe commodities, which
conftituted the opulence of Thebes, Sidon,
Memphis, and Jerufalem ; fometimiCs af-
cending the courfe of the Tygris and the
Euphrates, they awakened the adllvity of
the AfTyrians, the Medes, the Chaldeans,
and the Perfians, and according as they were
ufed or abufcd, cherifhed or overturned their
wealth and profperity. Hence grew up the
magnificep.ee of Perfepolis, of which you
may obferve the mouldering columns (8) ;
of Ecbatana (9), whofc feven-fold walls are
levelled with the earth ; of Babylon (10),
the ruins of which are trodden under foot
of men {/j) ; of Nineveh (ii), whofe name
feems to be threatened v/ith the fam^e obli-
vion, that has overtaken its greatnefs ; of
Thapfacus, of Anatho, of Gerra, and of the
melancholy and memorable Palmyra. O
names, for ever glorious ! celebrated fields t
famous countries ! how replete is your af-
pedt with fublime inftrudtion ! How many
i . profound
32 A SURVKY OF THE
profound truths are written on the furface
of this earth ! Ye places that here witnefTed
the life of man, in fo many different ages, aid
my recolled:ion while I endeavour to trace
the revolutions of his fortune ! Say, what
were the motives of his condu6t, and what
his powers ! Unveil the caufes of his mif-
fortunes, teach him true v/ifdom, and let the
experience of paft ages become a mirror of
inftrud:ion, and a germ of happinefs to pre-
fent and future generations !
CHAP.
DEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 33
CHAP. V.
CONDITION OF MAN IN THE UNIVERSE.
After a (hort filence, the Genius thus
refumed his inftrudions 1
I have already obferved to you, O friend
of truth, that man vainly attributes his mif-
fortunes to obfdure and imaginary agents,
and feeks out remote and myilerious caufes,
from which to deduce his evils. In the ge-
neral order of the univerfe, his condition is
doubtlefs fubjed:ed to inconveniencies, and
his exiftence over-ruled by fuperior powers;
but thefe powers are neither the decrees of a
blind defliny, nor the caprices of fantaftic
beings. Man is governed, like the world of
which he forms. a part, by natural laws, re-
gular in their operation, confequent in their
effedts, immutable in their effence; and thefe
laws, the common fource of good and evil,
are neither written in the diftant ftars, nor
concealed in myfterious codes : inherent in
the nature of all terreftrial beings, identified
D with
^4 ^ SURVEY OF THE
with their exiftence, they are at all times and
in all places prefent to the human mind ; they
ad: upon the fenfes, inform the intellecfl, and
annex to every adtion its punifliment and its
reward. Let man fludy thefe laws, let him
tinderfland his own nature, and the nature of
the beings that furround him, and he will
know the fprings of his deftiny, the caufes of
his evils, and the remedies to be applied.
When the fecret power that animates the
univerfe, formed the globe of the earth, he
flamped on the beings wWch compofe it ef-
fential properties, that became the rule of
their individual adion, the tie of their reci-
procal connexions, and the caufe of the har-
mony of the whole. He hereby eflabliflied
a regular order of caufes and effeds, of prin-
ciples and confequences, which, under an
appearance of chance, governs the univerfe,
and maintains the equilibrium of the world.
Thus he gave to fire motion and activity, to
air elalHcity, to matter weight and denfity;
he made air lighter than water, metals hea-
vier than earth, wood lefs cohefive than
fteel ; he ordered the flame to afcend, the
ftone to fall, the plant to vegetate -, to man,
"-'''' whom
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 35
whom he decreed to expofe to the encoun-
ter of fo many fubftances, and yet wiihed to
preferve his frail exiftence, he gave the fa-
culty of perception. By this faculty, every
adlion injurious to his life gives him a fen-
fation of pain and evil, and every favourable
adlion a fenfation of pleafure and good. By
thefe impreffions, fometimes led to avoid
what is ofFenfive to his fenfes, and fometimes
attracted towards the obj efts that foothe and
gratify them, man has been neceffitated to
love and preferve his exiftence. Self-love,
the defire of happinefs, and an averfion to
pain, are the effential and primary laws that
nature herfelf impofed on man, that the
ruling power, whatever it be, has eftabliflied
to govern him : and thefe laws, like thofe of
motion in the phyfical world, are the fimple
and prolific principle of every thing that
takes place in the moral world*
Such then is the condition of man : oft
6ne fidej fubjedled to the adlion of the ele-
ments around him, he is expofed to a variety
of inevitable evils ; and if in this decree Na-
ture appears too fevere, on the other hand,
juft and even indulgent, £he has not only
D 2 tempered
36 A SURVEY or* THK
tempered thofe evib with an equal portion
of benefits, fhe has moreover given him the
•power of augmenting the one, and diminifh-
ing the other. She has feemingly faid to
him, ** Feeble work of my hands, I ov/e you
" nothing, and I give you life. The world
** in which I place you was not made on
•* your account, and yet I grant you the ufe
•* of it. You v/ill iind in it a mixture of
•* good and evil. It is for you to diflinguiHi
'* them ', you muft direct your own fteps in
** the paths of flowers and of thorns. Be the
" arbitrator of your lot -, I place your defliny
*' in your hands.'' 'Yes, man is become
the artificer of his fite; it is himfeifwho
has created in turn the viciiTitudes of hia
fortune, his fucceiies and his difappoint-
ments ; and if,, when he refleds on the for-
rows which he has affociated to human life„
he has reafon to lament his weaknefs and
his folly, he has perhaps flill more right to
prefume upon his force, anc be confident in
his energies, when he recolledts from what
point he has fet out, and fo what heights ha
has been capable of elevating himfeif.
, . « a C H A 1^0
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 37
CHAP, VL
0?wIGINAL STATE OF MAN.
1 N the origin of things, man, formed equals
ly naked both as to body and mind, found
himfelf thrown by chance upon a land con*^
fufed and favage. An orphan, deferted by
the unknown power that had produced him,
he faw no fupernatural beings at hand to ad-i
vertife him of wants that he owed merely to
his fenfes^and inform him of duties fpringing
folely from thofe wants. Like other ani-
mals, without experience of the paft, with-
out knowledge of the future, he wandered in
forefts, guided and governed purely by the
affedions of his nature. By the pain of
hunger he was directed to feek food, and he
provided for his fubfiflence ; by the incle-
mencies of the weather, the deiire was ex-
cited of covering his body, and he made
himfelf cloathing : by the attracftion of a
powerful pleafure, he approached a fellow-
i)eiiig, and perpetuated his fpecies>
D 3 Thus
3B A SURVEY OF THE
Thus the impreffions he received from
external object's, awakening his faculties,
developed by degrees his underftanding,
and began to inftrucl his profound igno-
rance : his wants called forth his induflry;
his dangers formed his mind to courage 3 he
learned to difcinguifh ufeful from pernicious
plants, to refill: the elements, to feize upon
his prey, to defend his life ^ and his mifery
was alleviated.
T\msfe!f'Iovey averfion to pat?z, and defire
of happinefsy were the fimple and powerful
motives which drew man from the favage
and barbarous ftate in which Nature had
placed him : and now that his life is fown
with enjoyment, that he can every day count
ujion^fome pleafure, he may applaud himfelf
and fay: " It_isJ[ who have produced the
** bleflings that encompafs mje ; I ani the
*' fabricator of my own felicity ; a fecure
*' habitation, commodious raiment, an abun-
*' dance of wholefome provifion in rich va-
** riety, fmiling valleys, fertile hills, popu-
** lous empires, thefe are the works of my
** hand; but forme, the earth, given up to
** diforder, would have been nothing moce
«* thai>
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 39
** than a poifonous fwamp, a favage foreft,
*' and a hideous defert !" True, mortal
creator ! I pay thee homage ! Thou haft
meafiired the extent of the heavens, and
counted the ftars, thou haft drawn the Hght-
ning from the clouds -, conquered the fury
of the fea and the tempeft, and fubjeded
all the elements to thy will ! But, oh ! how
many errors are mixed with thefe fublime
energies !
CHAP.
40 A SURVEY OF THE
CHAP. vir.
PRINCIPLES OF SOCIETY.
Xn the mean time, wandering in woods
and upon the borders of rivers, in purfuit of
deer and of fifh, the firil human beings,
hunters and fifhermen, befet with dangers,
affailed by enemies, tormented by hunger, by
reptiles, and by the animals they chafed, felt
their individual weaknefs ; and, impelled by
a common want of fafety, and a common
fentiment of the fame evils, they united their
powers and their ftrength. When one man
was expofed to danger, numbers fuccoured
and defended him ; when one failed in pro-
vilion, another fliared with him his prey.
Men thus affociated for the fecurity of their
exigence, for the augmentation of their fa-
culties, for the protedion of their enjoy-
ment ; and the principle of ibciety was that
Qifelf'love,
Afterwards, inflrucfhed by the repeated ex-
perience of diverfe accidents, by the fatigues
§ . of
REVOLUTIONS 0? EMPIRES. 41
of a wandering life, by the anxiety refulting
jFfom frequent fcarcity, men reafoned with
themfelves, and faid: '' Why fhould we con-
f* fume our days in fearch of the fcattered
** fruits which a parsimonious foil affords ?
^' Why weary ourielves in the purfuit of
^' prey that eicape us in the woods or the
f* waters ? Let us afTembie under our hand
" the animails that nourifh us 3 let us apply
^^ our cares to-the increafe and defence of
** them. Their produce will ?.fford us a lap-
** ply of food, with their fpoils we may
^^ clothe ourfelves, and we fliall live exempt
** from the fatigues of the day, and folicitude
*^ for the morrow." And aiding each other,
they feized the nimble kid and the timlgl
(heep; they tarned the patient camel, the fe-
rocious bull, and the impetuous horfe; and
applauding themfelves on the fuccefs of their
induftry, they fat down in the joy of their
hearts, and began to tafte repofe and tranquil-
lity: and thus felf-Iove, ihe principle of all
their reafoning, was the infligator to every
art and every enjoyment.
ISlow that men could pafs their days in
leifare,andthe communication of their ideas,
they
42 A SURVEY OF THE
they turned upon the earth, upon the hea-r
yens, and upon themfelves an eye of curioiity
and reflection. They obferved the courfe of
the feafons, the adtion of the elements, the
properties of fruits and plants; and they ap-
plied their minds to the multiplication of
their enjoyments. Remarking in certain
countries the nature of feeds, which contain
within themfelves the faculty of re- producing
the parent plant, they employed to their own
advantage this property of Nature : they com-
mitted to the earth barley, wheat, and rice,
and reaped a produce equal to their mofl fan-
guine hopes. Thus they found the means
of obtaining within a fmall compafs, and
without the neceflity of perpetual wander-
ings, a plentiful and durable flock of pro^
vifion ', and encouraged by this difcovery,
they prepared for themfelves fixed habita-
tions, they conflruded houfes, villages, and
towns ; they affumed the form of tribes and
of nations : and thus ^2.% f elf -love rendered
the parent of every thing that genius has
effected, or human power performed.
By the_fJDle aid then ofjiisjacultiesi has
•man been able to raifehimfelf to the aftonifh-
REVOLUTIONS OF iliyfPIRES. 45
ing height of his prefent fortune. Too
J^appy would have been his lot, had he, fcru-
puloufly obferving the law imprinted on his
nature, conflantly fulfilled the objetft of it!
But, by a fatal imprudence, fometime^ over-
looking and fometimes tranfgreffing its li*
mits, he plunged in an abyfs of errors an4
misfortunes ; zwdfe/f-love^ now difordered,
and now blind, was converted into a prolifiQ
fource of calamities.
CHAP.
44 ^ SURVEY OF THE
C H x\ P. VIIL
SOURCE OF THE EVJLS OF SOCIETY.
In reality, fcarcely were the faculties of
men expanded, than, feized by the attradlion
of objed:s which flatter the fenfes, they gave
themfelves up to unbridled defires. The
fweet fenfations which nature had annexed
to their true wants, to attach them to life, no
longer fufficed. Not fatisfied with the fruits
which the earth offered them, or their in-
duftry produced, they were defirous of heap-
ing up enjoyments, and they coveted thofe
which their fellow^creatures pofleffed. A
flrong man rofe up againfl: a weak one to
tear from him the profit of his labour : the
weak man folicited the fuccour of a neigh-
bour, weak like himfelf, to repel the violence.
The flrong man in his turn ailbciated himr
felf with another ilrong man, and they faid i
*' Why Ihould we fatigue our arms in pro-
*' ducing enjoyments which we find in the
^* hands of the feeble, who are i^nable to de-
^'fen4
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 45
*^ fend themfdves ? Let us unite, and plun-
*' der them. They fhall toil for us, and we
** fhall enjoy in indolence the fruit of their
" exertions/* The ilrong thus afTociating
for the purpofc of oppreffion, and the weak
for re li fiance, men reciprocally tormented
each otherj_ and a fatal and general difcord
was eflablifhed upon the earth, in which the
pafTions, afTuming a thoufand new forms,
have never ceafed to generate a regular train
of calamities.
Thus that very principle of felf-love,
which, when re (trained within the limits of
prudence, Was a fource of improvement and
felicity, became transformed, in its blind and
difordered ^ate, into a contagious poifon.
Cupidity, the daughter and companion of
ignorance, has produced all the mifchiefs
that have defolated the globe.
Yes, ignorance and the love of accumu-
lation, thefe are the two fources of all the
plagues that infefl the life of man ! They
have infpired him with falfe ideas of his
happinefs, and prompted him to mifconflrue
and infringe the laws of nature, as they re-
lated to the connexion between him and
exterior
46 A SURVEY OF THE
exterior objeds. Through them his condudl:
has been injurious to his own exiftence, and
he has thus violated the duty he owes to
himfelf ; they have fortified his heart againft
compaffion, and his mind againft the didates
of juftice, and he has thus violated the duty
he owes to others. By ignorance and inor-
dinate defire, man has armed himfelf againft
man, family againft family^ tribe againft
tribe, and the earth is converted into a
bloody theatre of difcord and robbery.
They have fown the feeds of fecret war
in the bofom of every ftate, divided the
citizens from each other, and the fame fo-
ciety is conftituted of oppreifors and op-
preiTed, of mafters and flaves. They have
taught the heads of nations, with audacious
infolence, to turn the arms of the fociety
againft itfelf, and to build upon mercenary
avidity the fabric of political defpotifm :
or they have taught a more hypocritical
and deep-laid projecft, that impofed, as the
di(ftate of heaven, lying fanvftions ^ and a
facrilegious yoke : thus rendering avarice
the fource of credulity. In fine, they have
corrupted every idea of good and evil,juft and
unjuft.
REVbLDTlONS OF EMPIRES. 47^
unjuft, virtue and vice : they have mifled
nations in a never-ending labyrinth of cala-
mity and miftake. Ignorance and the love
of accumulation !....Thefe are the malevo-
lent beings that have laid wafte the earth ;
thefe are the decrees of fate that have over-
turned empires; thefe are the celeftial ma-
ledidions that have flruck thofe walls once
fo glorious, and converted the fplendour of a
populous city into a fad fpecflacle oT ruins !...
Since then it was from liis own bofom all
the^£vilsj>roceededlh^ life
Qfjnan,Jt was there alfo he ought to have
ioughtjhe remedies, where^only they_are to
be foundo
CHAP,
48 A SURVEY OF THB
C H A. P. IX.
THE ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT AND L AW3,
In truth, the period foon arrived when
men, tired cf the ills they occafioned each
other, fighed after peace ; and refledling on
the nature and caufes of thofe ills, they faid :
*' We mutually injute one another by our
*' pafiions, and fronfi a defire to grafp every
*' thiiig we in reality poiTefs nothing. What
*' one raviihes to-day, another tears from
** him to-morrow, and our cupidity rebounds
^'^ upon our own heads. Let us eftablifli
" arbitrators, who fliall decide our claims
" and appeafe our variances. When the
" ilrong rifes up againft the weak, the arbi-
" trator fliall repel him ; and the Yi£e and
*' property of each being under a common
" guarantee and protedlion, Vv'e fhall enjoy
** ail the bleffings of nature."
Conventions, tacit or expreffed, were thus
introduced into fociety, and became the rule
of the actions of individuals, the meafure of
their
Revolutions of empires. 49
their claims, and the law of their reciprocal
relations. Chiefs were appointed to enforce
the obfervance of the compadt, and to thefe
the people entrufted the balance of rights^
and the fword to punifli violations.
Then a happy equilibrium of powers and
of action was eflablifhed, which conftituted
the public fafety. The names of equity
and juftice were acknowledged and revered.
Every man, able to enjoy in peace the fruits
of his labour, gave himfelf up to all the
energies of his foul; and adlivity, awakened
and kept alive by the reality or the hope of
enjoyment, forced art and nature to difplay
all their treafures. The fields were covered
with harvefls, the valleys with flocks, the
hills with vines, the fea with ihips, and
man was happy and powerful upon the
earth.
The diforder his imprudence had caufed,
his wifdomthus remedied. But this wifdom
was ftill the efFedl of the laws of nature in
the organization of his being. It was to fe-
cure his own enjoyments, that he was led to
refped: thofe of another, and the defire of
E accumulation
^O A SURVEY OF THE
accumulation found its corredivc in en-
lightened felf-love.
Self-love, the eternal fpring of adion^ in
every individual, w^as thus the neceffary baiis
of all aflbciations ; and upon the obfervance
of this natural law has the fate of every na-
tion depended. Have the factitious and
conventional laws of any fociety accorded
with this law, and correfponded to its de-
mands ? In that cafe every man, prompted
by an overpowering inftind:, has exerted all
the faculties of his nature, and the public
felicity has been the refult of the various
portions of individual felicity. Have thefe
laws, on the contrary, reftrained the effort of
man in his purfuit of happinefs ? In that cafe
his heart, deprived of all its natural motives^
has languifhed in inadlion, and the oppref-
iion c£ individuals has engendered general
weaknefs.
Self-love, impetuous and rafh, renders
man the enemy of man, and of confcquence
perpetually tends to the dilTolution of fociety.
It is for the art of legiilation, and for the
virtue of minifters, to temper the grafping
• - * feliiihnefs
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 51
felfifhnefs of individuals, to keep each man's
defire to poffefs every thing in a nice equi-
poife, and thus to render the fubjeds happy,
in order that, in the ftruggle of this with
any other fociety, all the members fhould
have an equal intereft in the prefervation and
defence of the commonwealth.
From hence it follows, that the internal
Iplendour and profperity of empires, have
been in proportion to the equity of their go-
vernments ; and their external power re-
fpedlively, in proportion to the number of
perfons interefted in the maintenance of the
political conftitution, and their degree of in-
tereft in that maintenance.
On the other hand, the multiplication of
men by complicating their ties, having ren-
dered the demarcation of their rights a point
of difficult decifion ; the perpetual play of
the paiiions having given rife to unexpected
incidents; the conventions that were formed
having proved vicious, inadequate, or null ;
the authors of the laws having either mifun-
derftood the objed: of them, or dilTem-bled
it, and the perfons appointed to execute
them, inftead of reftraining the inordinate
E a defires
^2 A SURVEY OF THE
defires of others, having abandoned them-
fclves to the fvvay of their own avidity — fo-
ciety haSjbythefe caufes united, been thrown
into trouble and diforder ; and defedive laws
andunjuft governments, the refult of cupi-
dity and ignorance, have been the founda-
tion of the misfortunes of the people, and
the fubverfion of ftates.
CHAP.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 53
CHAP. X.
GENERAL CAUSES OF THE PROSPERITY
OF ANCIENT STATES.
Such, O man, who enqulreft after wifdom,
have been the caufes of the revolutions of
thofe ancient flates of which you contem-
plate the ruins ! Upon whatever fpot I fix my
view, or to whatever period my thoughts
recur, the fame principles of elevation and
decline, of profperity and deflrucflion^prefent
themfelves to the mind. If a people were
powerful, if an empire flourifhed, it was be-
caufe the laws of convention were conform-
able to thofe of nature i becaufe the govern-
ment procured/ to every man refpedively the
free ufe of his faculties, the equal fecurity of
his perfon and property. On the contrary, if
an empire has fallen to rain or difappeared,
it is becaufe the laws Vv^ere vicious or imper-
fedt, or a corrupt government has checked
their operation. If laws and government, at
firft rationaland jui1:,have afterv/ards become
E 3 depraved.
54 A SURVEY OF THE
depraved, it is becaufe the alternative of good
and evil derives from the nature of the
heart of man, from the fucceffion of his in-
cKnations, the progrefs of his knowledge,
the combination of events and circumftances;
as the hiftory of the human fpecies proves.
In the infancy of nations, when men ftill
lived in forefts, all fubjed: to the fame
wants, and endowed v^ith the fame faculties,
they v/ere nearly equal in ilrength -, and this
equality was a circumftance highly advan-
tageous to the formation of fociety. Each
individual finding himfelf independent of
every other, no one was the flave, and no
one had the idea of being maPter of another.
Untaught man knev/ neither fervitude nor
tyranny. Supplied with the means of pro-
viding fufficiency for his fubfiflence, he
thought not of borrowing from ftrangers.
Owing nothing, and exacting nothing, he
judged of the rights of others by his own.
Ignorant alfo of the art of multiplying en-
joyments, he provided only what was necef-
fary; and fuperfluity being unknown to him,
thedelire toengrofs ofconfequence remained
unexcitedi or if excited, as it attacked others
in
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 55
in thofe pofieffions that were wholly indif-
penfible, it was reiifled with energy, and the
very fore fight of this refiilance maintained a
Talutary and immoveable equilibrium.
Thus original equality, without the aid
of convention, maintained perfonal liberty,
fecured individual property, and produced
order and good manners. Each man labour-
ed feparately and forhimifelf: and his heart
being occupied, he Vv'andered not in purfuit
of unlawful defires. - His enjoyments were
few, but his wants were fatisfied : and as
mature had made thefe wants lefs extenlive
than his ability, the labour of his hands
foon produced abundance; abundance popu-
lation ; the arts developed themfelves, culti-
vation extended, and the earth, covered with
numerous inhabitants, was divided into dif-^
ferent domains.
The relations of men becoming compli-
cated, the interior order of fociety was more
difficult to maintain. Time and induftry
having created affluence, cupidity awoke
from its flumber ; and as equality, eafy be-
tween individuals, could not fubfifl: between
ifamilies, the national balance was dellroyed.
E4 ^ It
56 A SURVEY OF THE
It was neceffary to fupply the lofs by means
of an artificial balance ; it was neceffary to
appoint chiefs, and eftablifli laws; but as
thefe were occafioned by cupidity, in the ex-
perience of primitive times they could not
but partake of the origin from which they
fprung. Various circumilances however con-
curred to temper the diforder, and make it
indifpenfible for governments to bejufl.
States being at firft weak, and having ex-
ternal enemies to feaf, it was in reality of
importance to the chiefs not to opprefs the
fuhjedl. By diminifliing the intereil: of the
citizens in their government, they v^^ould have
diminiflied their means of refiilance -, they
would have facilitated foreign invafion, and
thus endangered their own exigence for
fuperfluous enjoyments.
Internally, the character of the people was
repellent to tyranny. Men had too long con-
tracted habits of independence; their wants
were too limited, and the confcioufnefs of
their own ilrength too infeparable from their
minds.
States being clofely knit together, it was
difficult to divide the citizens, in order to
opprefs
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 57
©pprefs fome by means of others. Their
communication with each other was too eafy,
and their intereils too iimple and evident.
Betide, every man being at once proprietor
and cultivator, he had no inducement to fell
himfelf, and the defpot would have been un-
able to find mercenaries.
If diffeniions arofe, it was between family
and family, one fadlion with another; and a
toniiderable number had ftill one common
intereft. Difputes, it is true, were in this
cafe more warm, but the fear of foreign in-
vafion appeafed the difcord. If the oppref-
fion of a party was effeded, the earth being
open before it, and men, flill fimple in their
manners, finding every where the fame ad-
vantages, the party migrated and carried
their independence to another quarter.
Ancient (tates then enjoyed in themfelves
numerous means of profperity and power.
As every man found his well-being in the
conftitution of his country, he felt a lively
intereft in its prefervation ; and if a foreign
power invaded it, having his habitation and
his field to defend, he carried to the combat
the ardour of a perfonal caufe, and his pa-
triotic
58 A SURVEY OF THE
triotic exertions were prompted by felf-de-
ience.
As every adllon ufeful to the public ex-
cited its efleem and gratitude* each was ea-
ger to be ufeful, and talents and civil virtues
were multiplied by felf-love.
As every citizen was called upon indifcri-
minately to contribute his proportion of pro-
perty and perfonal effort, the armies and the
treafuriesof the ftate were inexhauftible.
As the earth was free, and its pofleffion
cafy and fecure, every man was a proprie-
tor, and the divifion of property, by render-
ing luxury impoflible, preferved the purity
of manners.
As everyman ploughed his own field, cul-
tivation was more adive, provifions more
abundant, and individual opulence confti-
tuted the public wealth.
As abundance of provifion rendered fub-
fiftence eafy, population rapidly increafed,
and ftatcs quickly a^Tived at their plenitude.
As the produce was greater than the con-
fumption, the defire of commerce ftarted up,
and exchanges were made between different
Daticns, which were an additional flimulus to
/ their
REVOLUTIONS OF EiMPlRES, 59
tlieir adivity, and increafed their reciprocal
enjoyments.
In fine, as certain places in certain epo-
chas combined the advantage of good go-
vernment w^ith that of being placed in the
road of circulation and commerce, they be-
came rich magazines of trade, and powerful
feats of dominion. It was in this manner
that the riches of India and Europe, accu-
mulated upon the banks of the Nile, the
Tigris, and the Euphrates, gave fucceffive
exiftence to the fplendour of a thoufand
metropoliffes.
The people, become rich, applied their
fuperfluity of means to labours of public uti-
lity; and this was, in every ftate, the sra of
thofe works, the magnificence of which afto-
niihes the mind; thofe wells of Tyre (/), thofe
artificial banks of the Euphrates, thofe con-
duits of Medea {k), thofe fortreffes of the
Defert, thofe aqueduds of Palmyra, thofe
temples, thofe porticos. . . . And thefe im-
menfe labours were little oppreffive to the
nations that completed them, becaufe they
were the fruit of the equal and united effort
pf individuals free to ad: and ardent to defire.
Thus
6o A SURVEY OF THE
Thus ancient ftates profpered, becaufe fo-
clal inflitutions were conformable to the true
laws of nature, and becaufe the fubjed:s of
thofe ftates, enjoying hberty and the fecurity
of their perfons and their property, could
difplay all the extent of their faculties, and
all the energy of felf-love.
CHAP-
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES* 6l
CHAP. XL
GENERAL CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTIONS
AND RUIN OF ANCIENT STATES.
In the mean time the inordinate defire of
accumulation had excited a conftant and
univerfal flruggle among men, and this
ftruggle, prompting individuals and focie-
ties to reciprocal invafions, occafioned per-
petual commotions and fucceffive revolu-
tions.
At firft, in the favage and barbarous ftatc
of the firft human beings, this inordinate
defire, daring and ferocious in its nature,
taught rapine, violence, and murder -, and
the progrefs of civilization was for a long
time at a ftand.
Afterwards, when focieties began to be
formed, the eifed: of bad habits communi-
cating itfelf to laws and government, civil
inftitutions became corrupt, and arbitrary
and faditious rights were eftablifhed, which
gave the people depraved ideas of juftice and
morality.
Becaufe
^a A SURVEY OP TK1»
Becaufe one man, for example, was ftrong"
cr than another, this inequaUty, the refuit of
accident, was taken for the law of nature (/) ;
and becaufe the life of the weak was in his
power, and he did not take it from him, he
arrogated over his perfon the abfurd right of
property, and individual ilavery prepared the
way for the Ilavery of nations.
Becaufe the chief of a tamily could exer-
cife an abfolate authority in his own h^ufe,
he made his inclinations and affections the
fole rule of his conduifl ; he conferred and
withheld the conveniences and enjoyments
of life without refpecfl to the law of equality
orjaftice,and paternal ?:yranny laid thefoun-^
dation of political defpotifm {m).
In focieties formed upon fuch bafes, time
and induflry having developed riches, inordi-
nate defirc, reftrided by the laws, became
•artificial without being lefs adtive. Under
the maik of union and civil peace, it engen-
dered in the bofpm of every if ate an inteftine
v.'ar, in which the citizens divided into op-
pofite corps of orders, clalles, and families,
aimed to appropriate to themfelves, under
the name oi fiipremc poivcr^ the ability of
grafping
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 63
grafping and controllings every thing at the
will of their paffions. It is this fpirit of ra-
pacity, the difgtiifes of which are innume-
rable, but its operation and end uniformly
the fame, that has been the perpetual fcourge
of nations.
Sometimes oppofing focial compadl, or de-
ftroying that which already exifted, it has
abandoned the inhabitants of a country to
the tumultuous fliock of all their jarring
principles ; and the diffolved ftates, under
the name of anarchy y have been torment-
ed by the paffions of every individual mem-
ber.
Sometimes a people jealous of its liberty^
having appointed agents to adminifter, thefe
agents have affiimed to themfelves the powers
of which they were only the guardians 5 have
employed the public funds in corrupting
eledions, gaining partizans, and dividing the
people againft itfelf. By thefe means, from
temporary, they have become perpetual,
from eledlive, hereditary magiftrates; and
the ftate, agitated by the intrigues of the
ambitious, by the bribes of the wealthy
leaders of factions, by the venality of the
indolent poor, by the empiricifm of declaim-
ers^
64 A SIJRVEY OF THE
ers, has been troutled with all the incon-
verienccs o^i democracy.
In one country , the ch iefs, equal in fli ength,
mutually afraid of each other, have formed
vile compacts and coalitions, and portioning
out power, rank, honours, have arrogated to
the'Tuelvcs privileges and immunides ; have
erecled themfelves into feparate bodies and
diftind claiTes ; have tyrannifed in common
ov-:r the peoole, and, under the name of
arifiocracy^ the ftate has been tormented by
the paffions of the wealthy and the great.
In another country, tending to the fame
end by different mt'^s, [acred vmpojlors have
taken advantage of the credulity of the igno-
rant. In the fecrecy of tem.ples, and behind
the veil of altars, they have made the Gods
fpeak and act; have delivered oracles, worked
pretended miracles, ordered facriiices, impof-
ed offerings, prefcribed endowments; and,
imder the namie oi theocracy and religion, the
fhate has been tormented by the paffions of
prieds.
Sometimes, weary of its diforders or of its
tyrant:-, a nation, to diminiih the fourcesof its
evils, gave itfelf a fmgle maffer. In that cafe,
if the powers of the prince were limited,
his
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 6^
his only defire was to extend them ; if In-
definite, he abufed the trufl that was con-
fided to him ; and, under the name of mo^
narchy, the flate was tormented h^j the paf-
fions of kings and princes.
Then the fadious, taking advantage of the
general difcontent, flattered the people with
the hope of a better mailer ^ they fcattered
gifts and promifes, dethroned the defpot to
fubflitute themfelves in his Head ; and dif-
putes for the fucceffion or the divifion of
power, have tormented the ftate with the dif-
orders and devaluations of civil war^
In finC) among thefe rivals, one individual
more artful or more fortunate than the reft,
gaining the afcendancy, concentred the
whole power in himfelf. By a fingular phe-
nomenon, one man obtained the mafterv over
millions of his fellovz-creatures, againft their
will, and without their confent ; and thus
the art of tyranny appears alfo to have been
the offspring of inordinate defire. Obferving
the fpirit of egotifm that divided mankind,
the ambitious adroitly fomented this fpirit :
lie flattered the vanity of one, excited the
Jeaioufy of another, favoured the avarice of a
F third.
66 A SURVtY OF THE
third, enflamed the refentment of a fourth^
irritated the paffions of all. By oppofing
interefts or prejudices, he fowed the feeds
of divifions and hatred. He promifed to the
peer the fpoil of the rich, to the rich the
fubjugation of the poor; threatened this
man by that, one clafs by another ; ahd ifo-
kting the citizens by diflruft, he formed his
own ilrength out of their weaknefs, and im-
pofed on them the yoke of opinioriy the knots
of which they tied with their own hands.
By means of the army he extorted contribu-
tions ; by the contributions he difpofed of
the army 5 by the correfpondlng play of
money and places, he bound all the people
with a chain that was not to b-e broken, and
the flates w^hich they compofed fell into the
flow decay o^ defpoiifn:.
Thus did one and the fame fpring, vary-
ing it? adion under all the forms that have
been enumerated, inceilantly attack the con-
tinuity of ilates, and an eternal circle of vi-
ciffitudes have fprung from an eternal circle
of pailions.
Tills coniTant fpirit of egotlfm operated
tv/o principal efFedsequAliydeftructive: the
one,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 67
one, that by dividing focieties into all their
fradlions, a ftate of debility was produced^
which facilitated their diffolution ; the other,
that always tending to concentre the power
in a iingle hand, it occafioned a fucceffive
abforption of focieties and ftates, fatal to
their peace and to their common exift-
ence {n).
Juft as in a fingle ftate, the nation had
been abforbed in a party, that party in a
family, and that family in an individual, there
alfo exifted an abforption of a fimilar kind
between flats and flate, attended with all
themifchiefs in the relative fitaation of na-
tions, that the other produced in the civil
relation of individuals. One city fubjeded
its neighbour city, and the refult of the con*
queft was a province ; province fwailowed
up province, and thus produced a kingdom;
between two kingdoms a conqueft took
place, and thus furniflied an empire of un-
weildy bulk. Did the internal force of thefe
ftates increafe in proportion to their mafs?
On the contrary, it was diminifhed; and far
from the condition of the people being hap*
pier, it became every day more oppreffive and
F 2 wretched.
j58 a survey of the
wretched, by caufes inevitably flowing from
the nature of things.
Becaufe, as the boundaries of ftates be-
came extended, their adniiniflration became
more compUcated and difficult; and to give
motion to the mafs it was necelfary to in-
creafe the prerogatives of the fove reign, and
all proportion was thus annihilated between
•the duty of governors and their power.
Becaufe defpots, feeling their weaknefs,
dreaded all thofe circumftances that deve-
loped the force of nations, and made it their
fludy to attenuate it. • •
Becaufe nations, eftranged from each other
by the prejudices of ignorance and the fero-
city of hatred, feconded the perveriity of
governments, and employing a {landing force
for reciprocal offence, aggravated their ila-
very.
Becaufe, in proportion as the balance be-
tv>^ccn itates was broken, it becam.e eaiy for
the ftrong to overwhelm the weak.
Becaufe, in proportion as flate became
blended with jflate, the people were flripped
of their laws, their culloms, every thing by
which they were diftinguilhed from each
ether.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 6q
Other, and thus loft the great xnov cv feljijh^
nefs, which gave them energy.
And defpcts, confidering empires in the
light of domains, and the people as their
property, abandoned themfelves to depreda-
tions, and the licentioufhefs of the moft ar-
.bitrary authority.
And all the force and wealth of nations
were converted into a fuoply for individual
expence and perfonal caprice ; and kings,
in the wearifomenefs of fatiety, followed the
di4i:ates of every faditious and depraved,
tafle {o). They muft have gardens conftrud:-
edupon arches, and rivers carried to the
fummit of mountains i for them fertile fields
muft be changed into parks for deer, lakes
formed where there was no water, and rocks
elevated in thofe lakes; they muil have pa-
laces confiruded of marble and porphyry,
and the furniture ornamented with gold and
diamonds. Millions of hands were thus em-
ployed in fterile labours ; and the luxury of
princes being imitated by their paralites, and
defcending ilep by ftep to the loweft ranks,
became a general fource of corruption. and.
empoverifhment.
F 3 And
yO A SURVEY OF THE
And the ordinary tributes being no longer
adequate to the infatiable thirft of enjoy-
ment, they were augmented: the confe-
queree of which was, that the cultivator,
finding his toil increafe without any indem-
nity, loll his courage ; the merchant, feeing
himfelf robbed, took a difguft to induitry y
the multitude,condemned to a ftate of poverty,
exerted themfelves no farther than the pro-
curement of neceflaries required, and every
fpecies of produdive adivity was at a iland.
And the furcharge of taxes rendering the
poifeffion of lands burtricnfom.e, the humble
proprietor abandoned his fiv^ld, or fold it to
the man of opulence; and the mafs of wealth
centered in a few individuals. As the laws
and inflitutions favoured this accumulation,
nations were divided into a fmall body of
indolent rich, and a multiude of mercenary
poor. The people, reduced to indigence,
debafed themfelves ; the great, cloyed with
fuperfluity, became depraved; and the num.-
ber of citizens interefled in the prefervation
of the jflate decreafing, its flrength and
exigence were by fo much the more pre-
carious.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 71
In another view, as there was nothing to
excite emulation or encourage inflru6tion,
the minds of men funk into profound igno-
rance.
The adminillration of affairs being fecret
and myfterious, there exifted no means of re-
form or hope of better times; and as the
chiefs ruled only by violence and fraud, the
people conlidered them but a? a faction of
public enemies, and all harmony between the
governed and the governors was at an end.
The ftates of opulent Afia become ener-
vated by all thefe vices, it happened at length
that the vagrant and poor inhabitants of the
deferts and the mountains adjacent, coveted
the enjoyments of the fertile plains, and
inftigated by a common cupidity, they at-
tacked poliflied empires, and overturned the
thrones of defpots. Such revolutions were
rapid and eafy, becaufe the policy of tyrants
had enfeebled the citizens, razed the for-
treffes, deflroyed the warlike fpirit of refift-
ance, and becaufe theoppreffed fubje(5l was
without perfonal intereft, and the mercenary
foldier without courage.
Hordes of barbarians having reduced whole
F 4 pat ions
^2 A SURVEY OF THE
nations to a flate of flavery, it followed that
empires, formed of a conquering and a
vanquifhed people, united in their bofom
two claffes of men efientially oppofite and
inimical to each other. All the principles of
fociety were diiTolved, There was no longer
either a common int ^refl, or public fpirit :
on the contrary, a diflindlion of cafts and
conditions was eftabliilied, that reduced the
maintenance of diforder to a regular fyflem ;
and accordingly as. a man was defcended
from this or that blood, he was born vallal
or tyrant, live ftock or proprietor.
The opprcfTors being in this cafe lefs
numerous than the oppreifed, it became ne-
cefTary, in order to fupport this falfe equi-
librium, to bring the fcience of tyranny to
perfedion. The art of governmg was now
nothing more than that of fubjediing the
many to the few. To obtain an obedience
fo contrary to. inflindl, it was necellary to
eflabhili the moft fevere penalties; and the
cruelty of the laws rendered the manners
atrocious. The difliindion of perfons alfo
eftablifhing in the (late two codes of juftice,
two fpecies of rights, the people, placed
between
KEVOLXTTIONS OF EMPIRES. 73
between the natural inclinations of their
hearts, and the oath they were obliged to
pronounce, had two contradictory con-
fciences ; and their ideas of juft and unjuft
had no longer any foundation in the under-
jftanding.
Under fuch a fyT:em the people fell into
a ftate of depreflion and defpair ; and the
accidents of nature increafing the prepon-
derance of evil, terrified at this groupe of
calamities, they referred the caufesof them
to fuperior and invifible powers : becaufe
they had tyrants upon earth, they fjppofed
there to be tyrants in heaven ; and fuperiri-
tion came in aid to ao-gravate the difailers of
nations.
Hence originated gloomy and mifanthro-
pic fy fliems of religion, v/hich painted the
Gods malignant and envious like human de-
fpots. To appeafe them, man offered the fa-
crifice of all his enjoyments, puniihed him-
felf with privations, and overturned the laws
of nature. Conlidering his pleafures as
crimes, his fafferings as expiations, he en-
deavoured to cherifh a paffion for pain, and
to renounce felf-Jove 3 he perfecuted his
fenfes j
74 A SURVEY OF THE
ienies, detefted his life, and by a felf-de-^
nying and unfocial fyftem of morals, na-
tions were plunged in the iluggifhnefs of
death. ... ;..-.:. i^.u ; -.^Ai'^i.
But as provident nature had endbwed the
heart of man Vvdth inexhaullible hope, per-
ceiving his defires dilappcintf d of h^ppinefs
here, he purfued it elfe where i by a fweet
illufion, he formed to himfeif another coun-
try, an afylum, where, out of the reach of
tyrants, he ihould regain all his rights.
Hence a new diforder arofe. Smitten with
his imaginary world, man defpifed the world
of nature : for chimerical hopes he negledled
the rcaLty. He no longer confidered his
Lfc but as a fatiguing journey, a painful
dream; his body a«^ a nrifon that withheld
him from his felicity; the earth as a place
of exile and pilgrimage, which he difdaincd
to cultivate. A facred floth then eftabliflied
itfelf in the world; the fields were deferted,
wafte lands increafcd, empires were difpeo-
pled, monuments negle^ed^and every where
ignorance, fuperftition and fanaticifm unit-
ing their baleful effects, m.ultiplied devafta^
tions and ruins. . ; •,,. .
•.>•( ' ^ Thus,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 75
Thus, agitated by their own paffions,
men, whether in their individual capacity,
or as collective bodies, always rapacious and
improvident, pafling from tyranny to llavery,
from pride to abjednefs, from prefumption
to defpair, have been themfelves the eternal
inllruments of their misfortunes.
Such was the fimplicity of the principles
that regulated the fate of ancient ftates; fuch
was the feries of caufes and effedls, confe-
cutive and connedied with each other, ac-
cording to which they rofe or fell in the fcale
of human welfare, jaft as the phyiical caufes
of the human heart were therein obferved
or infringed. A hundred divers nations, a
hundred powerful empires, in their inceifant
viciffitudes, have read again and again thefe
inilrudtive leilons to mankind . . . And thefe
leflbns are mute and forgotten ! The dif-
eafes of paft times have appeared again in
the prefent ! The heads of the different
governments have pradifed again, without
reftraint, exploded projedls of deception and
defpotifm ! The people have wandered as
before in the labyrinths of fuperftition and
ignorance !
And
-jd A SURVEY OF THE
And what, added tlie Genius, calling up
his energies afrefn, is the confequence of.all
this ? Since experience is ufelels, fince fa-
lutary examples are forgotten, the fcenes
which were a6led before are now about to
be renewed; revolutions will again agitate
people and empires ; powerful thrones will,
as before, be overturned; and terrible ca-
taftrophes remind the human Ij^ecies, that
the la\vs of nature, and the precepts of
wifdom and truth, cannot be trampled upoi)
in vain.
CHAP.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. *JJ
CHAP. XII.
LESSONS TAUGHT BY ANCIENT, RE-
PEATED IN MODERN TIMES.
In this manner did the Genius addreis me.
Struck with the reafonablenefs and cohe-
rence of his difcourfe, and a multiplicity of
ideas crowding upon my mind, which, while
they thwarted my habits, led my judgment
at the fame time captive,! remained abforbed
in profound filence. Meanwhile, as in this
fombre and thoughtful difpoiition I kept my
eyes fixed upon Afia, clouds of fmoke and
of flames at the north, on the fhores of the
Black Sea, and in the fields of the Crimea,
fuddenly attracted my attention. They ap-
peared to afcend at once from every part of
the peninfula, and paffing by the iflhmus to
the continent, they purfued their courfe, as
if driven by an eafterly wind, along the miry
lake of Afoph, and were loil in the verdant
plains of the Coban. Obferving more at-
tentively the courfe of thsfe clouds, I per-
ceived
yS A SURVEY OF THE
ccived that they were preceded or followed
by fwarmsof Hvmg beings, which, like ants
difturbed by the foot of a pafienger, were in
lively action . Sometimes they feemed to
move tow-ards and rufh againll: each other,
and numbers after the concuffion remained
motionlefs. Difquieted at this fpedtacle, I
was endeavouring to diftinguiOi the objedls,
when the Genius faid to me : Do you fee
thofe fires which fpread over the earth, and
are you acquainted with their caufes and
efftdts ? — O Genius, I replied, I fee columns
of flame and fmoke, and as it were infed:s
that accompany them j but difcerning with
difficulty, as I do^ the mafles of towns and
monuments, howcanldiflinguifh fuch petty
creatures? I can fee nothing more than that
thefe infedts feem to cari-y on a fort of mock
battles; they advance, they approach towards
each other, they attack, they purfue. — It is
no mockery, faid the Genius, it is the thing
itfelf. — And what name, replied I, fhall we
give lO thcfe foolifli animalcules that deftroy
tach other r Do they live only for a day, and
is this Ihort life further abridged by violence
and murder ? — The Genius then once more
touched
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 79
touched my eyes and my ears. Liften, faid
he to me, and obferve. — Immediately, turn-
ing my eyes in the fame direction, alas ! faid
I, tranfpierced with anguiih, thefe columns
of flame, thefe infefe, O Genius ! they are
men, and the ravages of war ! Thefe tor-
rents of flame afcend from towns and vil-^
lages fet on fire ! I fee the horfemen that
light them. I fee them fword in hand over-
run the country. Old men, women, and
children, in confufed m.ultitudes, fly before
them. I fee other horfemen, who, with their
pikes upon their fhoulders, accompany and
diredl them : I can even diftinguifh by their
led horfes, by their kalpacks, and by their
tufts of hair (/>), that they are Tartars; and
without doubt thofe who purfue them in tri-
angular hats and green uniforms are Mufco-
vites. I underftand the whole: I perceive
that the war has jufl broken out afrelh be-
tween the empire of the Czars and the Sul-
tans*— Not yet, replied the Genius ; this is
only the prelude. Thefe Tartars have been,
and would ftill be troublefome neighbours ;
the Mufcovites are ridding themfelves of
them. Their country -is an object of conve-
7 nience
Ho A SURVEY OF THE
iiicnce to their lefs uncivilized enemies* it
rounds and makes complete their domi-
nions; and as the firfl ilep in the projedt
that has been conceived, the throne of the
Gucrals is overturxied.
In reality I law the Ruffian flag hoifted
over the Crimea, and their veflels fcattered
upon the Euxine.
Meanwhile, at the cries of the fugitive
Tartars, the Muffulman empire was in com-
motion. *•' Our brethren," exclaimed the
children of MahomaCt, " are driven from, their
*' habitations ; the people of the prophet are
*^ outraged 5 infidels are in poiTeffion of a con-
*' fecratedland {q), and profane the temples
*^ oflflamifm! Letus arm ourfelves to avenge
" the glory of God and our own caufe.'*
• A general preparation for war then took
place in the two empires. Armed men, pro-
vihons, ammunition, and all the murderous
accoutrements of battle, were every where
affembled. My attention was particularly
attradtcd by the immenfe crowds that in
either nation thronged to the temples. On
one {idc the Muffulman s, afiembled before
their mofques, waflied their hands and feet,
6 •* pared
KEVOLUTlOlslS OP EMPIRES. 8l
pat'ed their nails, and combed their beard :
then fpreading carpets upon the ground, and
turning themfelves towards the fouth, with
their arms fometimes croffed and fometimes
extended, they performed their genuflexions
and proftrations. Recolleding the difafters
they had experienced during the lafl war,
they cried : '^ God of clemency and pity, haft
** thou then abandoned thy faithful people ?
*^ Why doft thou, who has promifed to thy
** prophet the dominion of nations, and fig-
*' nalized religion by fo many triumphs, de-
*' liver up true believers to the fword of in-
fidels ?" And the Imans and the Santdns faid
to the people : " It is the chaftifement of
** your fins. You eat pork, you drink wine,
** you touch things that are unclean : God
** has puniflied you. Do penance -, purify
^* yourfelves ; fay your creed ^ ; fafl: from the
** riling of the fan to its (etting ; give the
** tenth _of your goods to the mofques *. go
*' to Mecca ; and God will make your arms
** vidtcrious." Then, affuming courage, the
people gave a general fhout. *^ There is but
* Ther§ is but one God, and Mahomet Is his prophet.
Q ©ne
82 A SURVEY OF THt
*^ one God," faid they in a tranlport of ragc>
•* and Mahomet is his prophet ! accurfed be
** everyone that believeth not! .... Indul-
*' gent God! grant us the favour to exter-
*' minate thefe Chriitians : it is- for thy glory
** we fight, and by cur death we are mar-
*' tyrs to thy name." — And having offer-
ed facrifices, they prepared themfelves for
battle.
On the other hand, the Ruffians on their
knees exclaimed: " Let us give thanks to
" God, and celebrate his power : he has
" ftrengthened our arm to humble his ene-
" mies. Beneficent God ! incline thine ear
*' to oup prayers. To pleafe thee we will
*^ for three days cat neither meat nor eggs.
'** Permit us to exterminate thefe impious
*' Mahometans, and overthrow their empire,
*' and Vv'e v^^ill give thee the tenth of the fpoil,
" and ercd: new temples to thy honour."
The priefls then filled the churches with
fmokc, and faid to the people : " We pray
" for you, and God accepts our incenfe, and
" blcfies your arms. Continue to faft and
" to fight; tell us the faults you have fecret-
*' ly committed; beflow your goods on the
<' church i
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 83
^^ church ', we will abfolve you of your fins,
'^^ and you (hall die in a ilate of grace." And
they fprinkled water on the people, diilri-
buted among them little bones of departed
faints to ferve as amulets and talifmans; and
the people breathed nothing but war and
defl:rud:ion.
Struck with this contrafting pidlure of the
fame paffions, and lamenting to myfelf their
pernicious confequences, I was reHediing on
the difficulty the common Judge would find
in complying with fuch oppofite demands,
when the Genius, from an impulfe of anger.
Vehemently exclaimed :
What madnefs is this which ftrikes my
ear ? What blind and fatal infanity poff^iTes -
the human mind ? Sacrilegious prayers, re-
turn to the earth from whence you came !
Ye concave heavens, repel thefe murderous
vows, thefe impious thankfgivings ! Is it
thus, O man^ you worfhip the Divinity ? And
do you think that he, whom you call Father
of all, can receive with complacence the
homage of free- hooters and murderers? Ye
conquerors, with what fentiments does he
behold your arms reeking with blood that he
G 2 has
8;^ A SURVEY OF THE
has created ? Ye conquered, what hope can
you place in ufclefs moans? Is he a man that
he fhould change, or the fon of man that h«
fliould repent ? Is he governed hke you by
vengeance and compaflion, by rage and by
wearinefs ! Bafe idea, how much unworthy
of the Being of Beings ! Hear thefe men, and
you would imagine that God is a Being ca-
pricious and mutable j that now he loves, and
now he hates ; that he chaflifes one, and in-
dulges another ; that hatred is engendered
and nouriihed in his bofom; that he fpreads
fnares for men, and delights in the fatal ef-
feds of imprudence ; that he permits ill, and
punilhes it ; that he forefees guilt, and ac-
quiefces ; that he is to be bought with gifts
like a partial judge ^ that he reverfes his edidls
like an undifcerning dcfpot; that he gives
and revokes his favours becaufe it is his will,
and is to be appeafed only by fervility like a
favage tyrant. I now completely underfland
what is the deceit of mankind, who have
pretended that God m.ade man in his own
image, and who have really made God in
theirs; who have afcribed to him their weak-
nefs, their errors, and their vices; and in the
conclufion.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 85
conclufion, furprifed at the contradidtoiy
nature of their own alTertions, have attempt-
ed to cloke it with hypocritical humihty,
and the pretended impotence of human rea-
fon, calling the delirium of their own under-
flandings the facred myfteries of heaven.
They have faid, God is without variable-
nefs, and they pray to him to change. They
have faid that he is incomprehenfible, and
they have undertaken to be interpreters of
his will.
A race of impoftors has made its appear-
ance upon the earth, v/ho, pretending to be
in the confidence of God, and taking upon
themfelves the office of inftrufting the peo-
ple, have opened the flood-gates of falfehood
and iniquity. They have affixed merit to
actions which either are indifferent or ab*
furd. They have dignified with the appella-
tion of virtue the obfervance of certain pof-
tures, and the repetition of certain words
-and names. They have taught the impiety
of eating certain meats on certain days ra-
ther than on others. It is thus the Jew
would fooner die than work on the fabbath.
It is thus the Perfian would endure fuffocation
G 3 before
86 A SURVEY OF THE
before he would blow the fire with his
breath. It is thus the Indian places fu-
preme perfection in fmcaring himfelf with
cow-dung, and myfterioufly pronouncing
the word Aum (r). It is thus the MulTul-
man believes himfelf purified from all his fins
by the ablution of his head and his arms ;
and difputes, fabre in hand, whether he
ought to begin the ceremony at the elbow
(j) or the points of his fingers. It is thus
the Chrifl:ian would believe himfelf damned,
were he to eat the juice of animal food in-
ftead of milk or butter. What fublime and
truly cclelliial dodrines ! V/hat purity of
morals, and how worthy of apoftleihip and
martyidom ! I will cros the feas to teach
thefe admirable laws to favage people and
didant nations. I will hy to them: " Chil-
" drtn of nature, how long wid ycu wander
" in the paths of ignorance ? How long will
*' ycu be bbnd to the true principles of mo-
** rality and religion ? Vifit civilized na-
** tic ns, and take ieflons of pious and learn-
" ed people. They will teach you, that, to
*' pleafe God, you niufi: m certam months
^* of the year faint all day with hunger and
' ' . 'Mhirft,
REV0LUTION»S OF EMPIRES. 87
^^ thirfl. They will teach you how you
** may fhed the blood of your neighbour,
" and purify ycurfelves from the i!ain, by
*' repeating a profeffion of faith, and mak-
" ing a methodical ablation : how you may
*^ rob him of his goods, and be abfolved
" from the guilt, by (baring them with cer-
*' tain perfons whofe profeffion it is to live
*' in idlenefs upon the labour of others."
Sovereign and myfterious Power of the
Univerfe ! fecret Mover of Nature ! uni-
verfal Soul of every thing that lives ! infinite
and incomprehenfible Being, Vv^hom, under
fo many forms, mortals have ignorantly wor-
fhipped ! God, who in the immenfity of the
heavens dofl: guide revolving worlds, and
people the abyfs of fpace with millions of
funs : fay, what appearance do thofe human
infe(fts, which I can with difficulty diHin-
guiih upon the earth, make in thy eyes ?
When thou diredeil: the ftars in their orbits,
what to thee are the worms that crawl in
the duft ? Of what importance to thy infinite
greatnefs are their difi;ind:ions of fed:s and
parties ? ^And how art thou concerned with
the fubtleties engendered by their folly ?
G 4 And
88 A SURVEY OF THE
And you, credulous men, flaew me the
efficacy of your pradices ! During the many
ages that you have obferved or altered
them, what change have your prejcriptions
wrought in the laws of nature ? Has the
fun flione with greater brilliance ? Has the
courfe of the feafons at all varied ? Is the
earth more fruitful, are the people more
happy ? If God be good, how can he be
pleafed with your penances ? If he be in-
finite, what can your homage add to his
glory ? Inconiifcent nien, anfy/er tbefe quef-
tions ! ' . . . ■ .
Ye conquerors, v/ho pretend by your arms
to ferve God, what need has he of your
aid ? If he wiihes to punifh, are not earth-?
quakes, volcanoes, and the thunderbolt in
his hand ? And does a God of clemency
know no other v/ay of correding but by ex-
termination ?
Ye MuiTulmans, if your misfortunes were
the chaflifements of heaven for the violation
of the jive precepts^ would profperity be
fhowered on the Franks who laugh at thefe
things ? If it is by the laws of the Koran
that God judges the earth, what were th^
principles
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 89
principles by which he governed the nations
that exifted before the prophet, the nume-
rous people v/ho drank wine, ate pork, and
travelled not to Mecca, yet to whom it was
given to raife powerful empires ? By what
laws did he judge the Sabeans of Nineveh
and of Babylon; the Perfian, who worfhip-
pedfire; the Greek and Rom^n idolaters; the
ancient kingdoms of the Nile, and your own
progenitors the Arabs and Tartars ? How
does he at prefent judge the various nations
that are ignorant of your worj[liip,the nume-
rous cafls of Indians, the vaft empire of the
Chinefe, the fwarthy tribes of Africa, the
iflanders of the Atlantic Qcean, the colonies
pf America !
Prefumptuous and ignorant men, v/ho ar-
rogate to yourfelves the whole earth, were
God to fummon at once all paft and prefent
generations, what proportion would thofe
Chriflian and Muffulman {qO:s, calling them-
felves imiverfaU bear m the vafl allemblage ?
What would be the judgment of his fair and
impartial jullice refpeding the adual mafs
pf mankind ? It is in eflimating the general
fyftem of bis government that you wande?
amon^
^0 A GURVEY OF THE
among multiplied abfurdities; and it is therei
that, in reality, truth prefents itfelf in all its
evidence. It is there that we trace the
limple but powerful laws of nature and rea-.
fon ; the laws of the common mover, the
general caufe^ of a God impartial and juft,
who, that he might fend his rain upon a
country, afks not who is its prophet ; who
caufes his fun equally to Ihine on all tribes of
men, whether diftinguiflied by a fair or a
fable complexion, on the Jew as on the
Mufiulman, on the Chriftian as on the Hea-^
then; who multiplies the inhabitants of every
country with whom order and induflry reign ^
who gives profperitv to every empire where
juftice is cbferved, where the powerful is
reftrained, and the poor m.an protected by
the lawsi where the weak lives in fafety, and
where all enjoy the rights which they derive
from nature and an equitable compa<fl.
Such are the principles by which nations,
are judged ! This is the true religion by
which the fate of empires is regulated, and
which, O Ottomans, has ever decided that -
of your own empire ! Interrogate your an-
ceflors ; alt them by what means they rofe
to
DEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 9I
to greatnefs, when, Idolators, few in number
^nd poor, they came from the deferts of
Tartary to encamp in thefc Lrtlle countries?
Aflc them if it v/a*^ by iflaiijifm, at that pe-
riod unknown to them, th.^t they conquered
the Greeks and A'-ibs; or by tneir courage,
prudence, niodcratioij, and unanimity, the
true powers of the focial flate ? The n the
Sultan himfeh^admiuiftercdjuilice and main-
tained order : then the prevaricating judge
and the rapacious governor were punifhed.,
and the multitude Uved in eafe : the culti-
vator was fecure from the rapine of the jani-
zary, and the fields were produdlive: the
public roads were fafe, and commerce
flouriflied. It is true you were a league of
vobbers, but. among yourfelves you v/ere
jurt. You fubjugated nations, but you did
not opprefs them. Vexed by their own
princes they preferred beingyour tributaries.
*^ Of what importance is it to me, faid the
*' Chriftian, whether my mailer be pleafed
" with images or breaks them in pieces,
i' provided he is jufl towards me ? God will
^' judge his dodrine in heaven." You were
temperate and hardy > your enemies foft and
effeminate :
92 A SURVEY OF THE
efFcmlnate : you were fkilled in the art of
battle; they had forgotten its principles: you
had experienced chiefs, warlike and difci-
plined troops ^ the hope of booty excited ar-
dour; bravery was recompenfed^difobedience
and cowardice punifhed, and all the fprings of
the human heart were in adion. You thus
conquered a hundred nations, and out of the
mafs founded an immenfe empire.
But other manners fucceeded. The laws
of nature, however, did not lefs operate in
your misfortunes than in your profperity.
You deftroyed your enemies, and your grafp-
ing ambition, ftili in force, preyed upon your-
felves. Having becom-e rich,vou commenced
an internal contefl refpediing the divifion and
the enjoyment ofyour riches, and diforder was
generated through every clafs of yourfociety.
The Sultan, intoxicated v/ith his greatnefs,
mifuiiderflood the object of his fundions,
and all the vices of arbitrary power prefently
unfolded themfelves. Meeting with no ob-
ftacle to his defires, he became a depraved
charadler. Weak, and arrogant at the fame
time, he fpurned the people, and v/ould no
longer be influenced and direded by their
voice.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 9^
Voice. Ignorant, and yet flattered, he neglect-
ed all in{lrud:ion,all fl:ady,and funk into total
incapacity. Become himfelf unqualified for
the condud: of affairs, he committed the
truil to hirelings, and thefe hirelings deceiv-
ed him. To fatisfy their ov^n paffions, they
ftimulated and increafed his; they multi-
plied his v^ants, and his enormous luxury
devoured every thing. He was no longer
content v/ith the frugal table, the mode ft
attire, and the fimple habitation of his an-
ceftors : the earth and fea muft be exhauftcd
to fatisfy his pride ; fcarce furs^ muil be
fetched from the pole, andcoftly tiffues from
the equator; he confumed at a meal the tri-
bute of a city, and in a day the revenue of a
province. He became infefled with an army
of women, eunuchs, and courtiers. He
was told that the virtue of kings confifted
in liberality ; and the munificence and trea-
fures of the people were delivered into the
hands of parafites. In imitation of the maf-
ter, the flaves were alfo defirous of having
magnificent houfes, furniture of exquifite
workmanfhip, carpets richly embroidered,
vafes of gold and filver for the vileft ufes ; and all
the
g^ A SURVEY OF THE
the wealth of the empire was fwallowed up
in the Serai.
To fupply this inordinate luxury the flaves
and the women fold their influence; and ve-*
nality introduced a general depravation.
They fold the favour of the prince to the Vi-
fier, and the Vifler fold the empire. They fold
the law to the Cadi, and the Cadi fold juf-
tice. They fold the altar to the prieft, and
the priefc fold heaven. And gold obtain-
ing every thing, nothing was left unpradifed
to obtain gold. For gold, friend betrayed
friend j the child his father ; the fervant his
mailer; the wife her honour ; the merchant
his confcience ; and there no longer exifled
in the ftate either good faith, manners, con-
cord, or ftability.
The Pacha, who purchafed his office, pre-
fently had recourfe to the fyilem of farming
it for a revenue, and exerciling upon it every
fpecies of extortion. He fold the colledlion
of the taxes, the command of the troops, the
adminiftration of the diilridls; and inpropor^
tion as every employment was temporary, ra-
pine, diffufing itfelf from rank to rank, was
rapid and precipitate. The excifeman op-»
6 prefled
KEVOtUTlONS OF EMPIRES. 95
prefled the merchant by his exactions, and
trade was annihilated. The Aga ftript the
huffcandnian, and cultivation was degraded.
The labourer, robbed of his little capital, had
not wherewith to fow his field : taxes never-
thelefs became due, and he was unable to
pay thein ; he was threatened with corporal
punifhrnent, and driven to the expedient of
a loan : fpec'e, for want of fecurity, was
withdrav/n xrom circulation ; the intereft of
money became enormous, and ufury aggra-
vated the mifery of the poor.
Inclement feafons, periods of dearth, had
rendered the harvefts abortive, but govern-
ment would neither forgive nor poftpone its
demands. Diftrefs began its career : a part
of the inhabitants of the villao-es took refup-e
o o
in the cities ; the burthen upon thofe that
remained became greater, their ruin was con-
fummated, and the country depopulated.
Driven to the laft extremity by tyranny
and infult, certain villages broke out into re-
bellion. The Pacha coniidered the event as
a fubjeft of rejoicing ; he made war upon
them, took their houfes by ftorm, ranfacked
their goods, and carried off their cattle. The
foU
5^ A SURVEY OF THE
foil became a defert, and he exclaimed *
*' What care I ; 1 fliall be removed from it
to-morrow."
Yet again, the want of cultivation led one
ftep farther. Periodical rains or fwelling
tides overflowed the banks and covered the
country with fwamps : thefe fwamps exhaled
a putrid air, which fpread chronical difeafes,
peftilence, and ficknefs of a thoufand formsy
and was followed by a flill farther decreafe
of population, by penury and ruin.
Oh! who can enumerate all the evils of
this tyrannical fyftem of government I
Sometimes the Pachas make war of them-
felves, and to avenge their perfonal quarrels^
provinces are laid wafte. Sometimes, dread-
ing their mailers, they aim at independence^
and draw upon their fubjedis the chaftife-
ment of their revolt. Sometimes, fear-
ing thefe very fubjeds, they call to their
aid and keep in pay foreign trgops, and to
be fure of them, they indulge them in every
kind of robbery. In one place, they com-
mence an action againft a rich man, and
plunder him upon falfe pretences. In an-
other, they fubcrn witneffes, and impofe a
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 97
fine for an imaginary offence. On all oc-
calions they excite the hatred of fcdts againft
each other, and encourage informations for
the fake of increafing their own corrupt ad-
vantages. They extort from men their pro-
perty ; they attack their perfons 3 and when
their imprudfent avarice has heaped into one
mafs the riches of a province, the fupreme
government, with execrable perfidy, pre-
tending to avenge the oppreffed inhabitants^
draws to itfelf their fpoil m the fpoil of the
culprit, and wantonly and vainly expiate in
blood the crime of which it was itfelf the
accomplice.
O iniquitous beings, fovereigns or mini-
flers, who fport with the life and property
of the people ! was it you who gave breath
to man, that you take it from him .? Is it
you who fertilize the earth, that you diffipate
its fruits ? Do you fatigue your arms with
ploughing the field ? Do you expofe your-
feives to the heat of the fun, and endure
the torment of third in cutting down the
harveft and binding it into flieaves ? Do you
watch like the f[:iepherd in the nocturnal
H dew ?
98 A SURVEY OF THE
dew ? Do you traverfe dcferts like the inde-
fatigable merchant? Alas! when 1 have je-
fiedled on the cruelty and infolence of the
powerful, my indignation has been roufed,
and I liave faid in my anger : What ! will
there never appear upon the earth a race of
men who fhall avenge the people and punifh
tyrants! A Imall number of robbers devour
the multitude, and the multitude fuffer them-
felves to be devoured ! O degraded people,
awake to the recognition of your rights !
authority proceeds from you, yours is all the
power. Vainly do kings command you i?i
the none of God and by thtir lance : foldiers,
obey not the fummons. Since God fupports
the Sultan, your fuccour is ufelefs; fmce the
fword of heaven fuffices him, he has no need
of yours; let us fee what he can do of him-
felf. . . . The foldiers have laid down their
armsi and lo, the mafters of the world are as
feeble as the meaneft of their fubjedts ! Ye
people, know then that thofe who govern
you are your chiefs and not your mafters -,
your guardians appointed by yourfelves, and
not your proprietors; that your wealth is
your
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 99
your own, and to you they are accountable
for the adminiftration of it ; that kings or
fubjects, God has made all men equal, and
no human being has a right to opprefs his
fellow-creature.
But this nation and its chiefs acknowledge
not thefe facred truths. ... Be it fo ; they
will fufFer the confequences of their error.
The decree is gone forth; the day approaches
when this coloffus of power ihall be dalhed
to pieces, and fall crulhed by its own weight.
Yes, I fwear by the ruins of fo many de-
moliihed empires, that the crefcent fhall
undergo the fame fate as the flates whofe
mode of government it has imitated ! A
foreign people (hall drive the Sultans from
their metropolis; the throne of Orkhan fhall
be fub verted 5 the laft fhoot of his race fhall
be cut off; and the horde of the Oguzians (/),
deprived of their chief, fhall be difperfed like
that of the Nogaians. In this diffolution
the fubjeds of the empire, freed from the
yoke that held them together, will refume
their ancient diflindlions, and a general anar-
chy will take place, as happened in the em-
H 2 pirc
iOO A SURVEY OF THE
pire of the Sophls (?/), till there fhall arife
among the Arab?, the Armenians, or the
Greeks, legiflators who fliall form nevvftates.
Oh ! were a fagacious and hardy race of men
to be found, what n.aterials of greatnefs and
glory are here ! ....But the hour of defliny
is arrived. The cry of war llrikes my ear,
and the cataftrophe is about to commence.
In vain the Sultan draws out his armies ;
his ignorant foldiers are beaten and fcattered.
In vain he calls upon his fubjecfts : their
hearts are callous j his fubjedls reply : *' It
** is decreed; and what is it to us who is
*^ to be our mafter ? Vve cannot lofe by the
" change." In vain thefe true believers in-
voke heaven and the prophet, the prophet
is dead, and heaven without pity anfwcrs :
" Ceafe to call upon me. You are the au-
V^ thors of your calamities, find yourfelves
" their remedy. Nature has eftablifluxl
*' law^s, it becomes you to pradife them.
** Examine and reiiettt upon the events that
** take place, and profit by experience. It
** is the folly of man that works his deftrnc-
** tion J it is his wifdom that muft fave him.
'' The
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. Id
" The people are ignorant ; let them get un-
" derftanding : their chiefs are depraved; let
'^ them correct their vices and amend their
" lives, for fuch is the decree of nature :
" Smce the evils of fociety fiow from igno-
*^ RANGE ^W INORDINATE DESIRE, men
" will never ceafe to he tormented till they
^^ floall become intelligent ajid wife \ till they
^' fiall praBife the art of jiiftice, foimded on
*^ a knowledge of the various relations in
" which they f and, and the laws of their own
** organization *."
CHAP.
* A fingular moral phenomenon made its appearance
In Europe in the year 1788. A great nation, jealous of
its liberty, contraded a fondnefs for a nation the enemy
of liberty ; a nation friendly to the arts for a nation that
detefts them ; a mild and tolerant nation for a perfecuting
and fanatic one; a focial and gay nation for a nation
whofe chara6i:eriftic are gloom and mifanthropy ; in a
word, the French were fmitten with a pafHon for the
Turks : they were defirous of engaging in a war for
them, and that at a time when a revolution in their own
country was juft at its commencement. A man who
perceived the true nature of the fituation, wrote a book
to difiuade them from the war : it was immediately pre-
tended that he was paid by the government, which in
reality wifhed the war, and which was upon the point of
(hutting him up in a ftate prifon. Another man wrote
H 3 tq
102 A SURVEY OF THE
CHAP. XIII.
WILL THE HUMAN RACE BE EVER IN
A BETTER CONDITION THAN AT
PRESENT.
Oppressed with forrow at the predic-
tions of the Genius, and the feverity of his
reafoning : Unhappy nations, cried I, burfl-
to recommerid the war : he was applauded, and his word
was taken in payment for the fcience, the politenefs and
importance of the Turks. It is true that he beheved in
his own thefis, for he had found among them people who
call a nativity, and alchcmifts who ruined his fortune;
as he found Martinifts at Paris, who enabled him to fup
with Sefoflris, and iVIagnetifers who concluded with de-
ftroyiiig his cxiflcnce. Notwithlbnding this, the Turks
were beaten by che Ruffian^:, and the man who then
predided the fall of their empire, perfifts in the predic-
tion. The refuk of this fall will be a conaplete change
of the political fyftem, as far as it relates to the coaft of
the Mediter.aneun If, however, the French become
important in proportion as they become free, and if they
make ufc of ihe advantage they will obtain, their progrefs
may eafily prove of the moft honourable iort, inafmuch
as, by the wife decrees of fate, the true intereft of man-
yjmd eveimore accords with their true morality.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. IO3
ing into tears ! Unhappy my own lot ! I
now defpair of the felicity of man ! iince
his evils flow from his owa heart, fmce he
muft himfelf apply the remedy, woe for
' ever to his exigence ! For what can reftraih
the inordinate defire of the powerful ? ¥/ho
fhall enlighten the ignorance of the weak ?
Who inftradt the multitude in the know-
ledge of its rights, and force the chiefs to
difcharge the duties of their ftation ? Indivi-
dual will not ceafe to opprefs individual, one
nation to attack another nation, and never
will the day of profperity and glory again
dawn upon thefe countries. Alas ! con-
querors will come; they v/ill drive away the
oppreffors, and will eflablifh themfelves in
their place ; but, fucceeding to their power,
they will fucceed alfo to their rapacity, and
the earih will have changed its tyrants,
without leffening the tyranny.
Then turning towards the Genius : O
Genius ! faid I, defpair has taken hold of
my heart. While you have inftrudled me
in the nature of man, the depravity of go-
vernors, and the abjednefs of thofe who
H 4 are
104 A SURVEY OF THE
are governed, have given me a difguft to
life ; and firxe there is no alternative but
to be the accoFxiplice or the vidliai of op-
prefTion, what has the virtuous man to do
but to join his ailics to thofe of the tonibs !
The Genius, fixing upon me a look of
fcverity mixed with compaffion, v^as filent.
After a few minutes he replied : Is it then
in dying that virtue confifts ? The wicked
man is indeflitigable in the confummation of
vice, and the juft diflieartened at the firft
obftacle which flands in the way of doing
good ! . . . . But fuch is the human heart :
fuccefs intoxicates it to prefumption, difap-
pointment dejeds and terrifies it. Always
the vicflim of the fenfation of the moment,
it judges not of tilings by their nature but
by the impulfe of pafhon. . . . Mortal, v/ho
defpaireft of the human race, upon what
profound calculation of reafonings and events
is your judgment formed ? Have you fcru-
tinized the organization of fenfible beings,
to determine with precifion whether the
fprings.that incline them to happinefs are
weaker than thofe v/hich repel ? or rather,
viewing
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. IC5
viewing at a glance the kiilory of the fpecies,
and judging of the future by the example
of the pail, have you hence difcovered with
certainty, that all proficiency is impofiible ?.
Let me afk : Have focieties, iince their
origin, made no flep towards inftruction and
a better (late of things ? Are men fllll in
the woods, deilitute of every thing, igno-
rant, fl:upid, and ferocious ? Are there no
nations advanced beyond the period, when
nothing w^as to be feen upon the face of the
globe but favage freebooters or favage Haves ?
If individuals have at certain times, and in
certain places, become better, v/hy fliould
not the mafs improve ? If particular focieties
have attained a conliderable des^ree of oer-
fedion, why fliould not the prcgrefs of the
general fociety advance ? If firil: obftacles
have been overcome, why fhould fucceed-
ing ones be infurmountable ?
But you are of opinion that the human
race is degenerating ? G uard yourfelf againfi:
the illufion and paradoxes of mifanthropy.
DifTatisfied with the prefent, man fuppofes
in the pall a perfedion which does not exifl:,
and
I06 A SURVEY OF THE
and v/hich is merely the difcoloration of his
chagrin. He praiies the dead from enmity
to the living, and employs the bones of the
fathers as an inftrumuent of chafLifement
againfi: the children.
To eftablilh this principle of a retrograde
perfedion, it is neceffary that we Ihould con-
tradict the tcftimony of fa 61s and reaibn.
Nor is this all ; the fads of hiftory might
indeed be equivocal, but it is farther necef-
farv that we Ihould contradid the living fad
of the nature of maan -, that we Ihould a&rt
that he is born with a perfed fcience in the
life of his fcnfes ^ that, previous to e:Lpe-
rience, lie is ab'e to diflinguiLJi poifon from
diment; that the fagacity of the infant is
greater than that of his bearded progenitor;
that the blind man can walk with m.ore
affurance than the m.an endued with fight ;
that ma:i, the creature of civilization, is lefs
favoured by circumflances than the canni-
bal; in a word, that there is no truth in
the exifting gradation of inftrudtion and ex-?
perience.
Young man, believe the voice of tombs
and
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I07
and the teftimony of monuments. There are
countries which have doubtlefs fallen off
from what they were at certain epochas :
but if the under (landing were to anilyfe
thoroughly the wifdom and felicity of their
inhabitants at thofe periods, their glory
would be found to have lefs of reality than
of fplendour; it would be feea, that evea in
the moft celebrated flates of antiquity, there
exifted enormous vices and cruel abuf^s, the
precife caufe of their inftability -, that ia
general the principles of government vv'ere
atrocious ; that, from people to people,
audacious robbery, barbarous wars, and im-
placable animofities were prevalent (x) ; that
natural right was unknown ; that morality
was perverted by fenfelefs fanaticifrn and de-
plorable fuperdition ; that a dream, a vifion,
an oracle, were the frequent occaiioa of the
moil terrible commotions. Nations are not
perhaps yet free from the power of thefe
evils ; but their force is at leall diminiihed,
and the experience of pail times has not
been v/holly loft. Within the three laft
centuries efpecially, the light ot knowledge
has.
joS A SURVEY OF THE
has been increafed and dilTeminatcd; civili-
zation, aided by various happy circumftances,
has perceptibly advanced, and even inconve-
niences and abufes have proved advantageous
to it : for if conquers have extended king-
doms and fcates beyond due bounds, the
people of different countries, uniting under
the fame yoke, have loft that fpirit of ef-
trangement and divifion which made them
all enemies to one another. If the hands of
power have been flrengthened, an additional
degree of fyflem and harmony has at lead
been introduced in its exercife. If wars
have become more general in the m.afs of
their influence and operation, they have been
lefs dcfLnidtive in their details. If the peo-
ple carry to the combat lefs perfonality and
Icfs exertion, their ftruggles are lefs fangui-
nary and ferocious. If they are lefs free,
they are lefs turbulent -, if they are more
effeminate^ they are more pacific. Defpo-
tifm itfelf feems not to have been unpro-
ductive of advantages : for if the govern-
ment has been abfolute, it has been lefs per-
turbed and tempcfl'uous 3 if thrones have
been
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I09
been regarded as hereditary property, they
have excited lefs diffention, and expofed the
people to fewer con vulfions ; in fine, if def-
pots, with timid and myfteriousjealoufy have
interdicted all knowledge of their admini-
ftration, all rivalfliip for the diredion of af-
fairs, the paffions of mankind, excluded from
the political career, have fixed upon the arts
and the fcience of nature; the fphere of ideas
has been enlarged on every fide; man, de-
voted to abfiract fi:iidies, has better under-
fcood his place in the fyllem of nature, and
his focial relations ; principles have been
more fully difcufi^ed, objecfls more accurately
difcerned, knowledge more widely difFufed,
individuals made more capable, manners
more fociable, life more benevolent and
pleafing ; the fpecies at large, particularly
in certain countries, have been evidentlv
gainers : nor can this improvement fail to
proceed, fince its two principal obfi:acles,
thofe v/hich have hitherto rendered it fo
ilow, and frequently retrograde, the difii-
culty of tranfmitting ideas from age to age,
and communicating them rapidly from man
to man, have been removed.
With
110 A SURVEY OF TH2
With the people of antiquity, twtry can-
ton and every city, having a language pecu-
liar to itleif, flood aloof from the reft, and
the refult was favourable to ignorance and
anarchy : they had no communication of
ideas, no participation of diicoveries, no.
harmony of interefls or of will, no unity of
adion or condudt. Befide, the only means
of diffufiiig and tranfmitting ideas being
thjit of fpeech, fugitive and limited, and
thiit of writing, flow of execution, expenfive,
and acquired by f-w, there refulted an ex-
treme difficulty as to inflrudtion in the firft
iiaftance, the lofs of advantages one genera-
tion might derive from the experience of
another, inftability, retrogradation of fci-
ence, and one unvaried fcene oi chaos and
childhood.
On the contrary. In the modern world,
and particularly in Europe, great nations
having allied themfclves by a fort of uni-
verfal language, the firm of opinion has been
placed upon a broader bafis ; the minds of
men have fympathifed, their hearts have en-
larged ; we have feen agreement in think-
ing, and concord in adting : in fine, that
2 facred
REVOLUTIONS O^ EMPIRES, III
facred art, that memorable gift of celeftial
genius, the prefs, furniflied a means of com-
municating, of diffusing at one inftant any
idea to millions of the fpecies, and of giving
it a permanence which all the power of ty-
rants has been able neither to fufpend nor
to fapprefs. Hence has the vaft mafs of
inftruAion perpetually increafed -, hence has
the atmofphere of truth continually grown
brighter, and a ftrength of mind been pro-
duced that is in no fear of counteraction.
And this improvement is the neceiTary effedl
of the laws of nature ; for by the law of
fenfation, man as invincibly tends to make
himfelf happy, as the flame to afcend, the
ftone to gravitate, the water to gain its level.
His ignorance is the obftacle which mifleads
him as to the means, and deceives him re-
fpcdling caufes and effedls. By force of
experience he will become enlightened; by
force of errors he will fet himfelf right; he
will become wife and good, becaufe it is his
intereft to be fo : and ideas communicating
themfelves through a nation, v/hole claffes
will be inflrufted, fcience will be univer-
fally
112 A SURVEY OF THE
lally familiar, and all men will underiland
what are the principles of individual happi-
nefs and of public felicity ^ they will under-
ftand what are their refpedtive relations,
their rights, and their duties, in the focial
order ; they will no longer be the dupes of
inordinate delire ; they will perceive that
morality is a branch of the fcience of phy*
fics, compofed it is true of elements, com-
plicated in their operation, but fimple and
invariable in their nature, as being no other
than the elements of human organization it-
felf. They will feel the neceffity of being
moderate and jufl, becaufe therein confiits
the advantage and fecurity of each ; that to
wifh to enjoy at the expence of another is a
falfe calculation of ignorance, becaufe the
refult of iuch proceeding, are reprifals, en-
mity, and revenge -, and that difhonefty is
invariably the offspring of folly.
Individuals will feel that private happi-
nefs is allied to the happinefs of fociety :
The weak, tliat inftead of dividing their
interefcs, they ought to unite, becaufe equa.-
lity conftitutes their ftrength ;
The
REVdLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. II3
The rich, that the meafure of enjoyment
is limited by t' e conftitution of the organs,
and that laflitude foiiows fatiety :
The poor, that the highefl degree of hu-
man felicity coniifts in peace of mind and
the due employment of time :
Public opinion, reaching kings on their
thrones, will oblige them to keep themfelves
within the bounds of a regular authority :
Chance itieif, ierving ihe caufe of nations,
will give them fometimes^ incapable chiefs,
who, throuo-h weaknef^, will fuff;;r them to
become free ; and fometimes enlightened
chiefs, who will virtuoufly emancipate them:
Individuality Will be a term of greater com-
preheniion, and nations, free and enlightened
will hereafter become one complex individu-
al, as iingle men are now: the confequences
will be proportione-i to the flate of things.
The communication of knowledge will ex-
tend from fociety to fociety, till it compre-
hends the whole earth. By the law of imi-
tation the example of. one people will be
followed by others, who will adopt its fpirit
and its laws. Defpots themfelves, per-
ceiving that they can no longer maintain
I their
114 A SURVEY OF THE
their power without juilice and beneficence^
will be induced, both from necefiity and ri-
valihip, to foften the rigour of their govern-
ment ; and civilization will be univerfal.
Among nations there will be eflablidied
an equilibrium of force, which, confining
them within the limits of juft refped: for
their reciprocal rights, will put an end to the
barbarous practice of Vv^ar, and induce them
to fubmit to civil arbitration the dccifion of
their dlfputes {y) ; and the whole fpecies will
become one grand fociety, one individual
family governed by the fame fpirit, by com-
mon lav/s, and enjoying all the felicity of
which human nature is capable.
This great work VnhU doubtlefs be long
accompliining, becaulc it is necefi^ary that
one and the fame miOtion (liould be commu-
nicated to the various parts of an immenfe
body; that the fam^e kaven Iliould afiimilate
an enormous mafs of heterogeneous elements :
but this motion will effe^lually operate Al-
ready fociety at large, having pafied through
the fame ftages as particular focieties have
done, promifes to lead to the fame rcfults.
At firft, difconnedted in its parts, each in-
dividual
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, II5
dividual flood alone ; and this intelleduai
folitude conftituted its age of anarchy and
childhood. Divided afterwards into fedlions
of irregular iize, as chance direcled, which
have been called dates and kingdoms, it has
experienced th^ fatal efFeds which refult
from the inequality of wealth and condi-
tions ; and the ariftocracy by w^hich great
empires have domineered over their depen-
dencies, have formed its fecond age. In pro-
cefs of time, thefe paramount chiefs of the
globe have difputed w^ith each other forfupe-
riority, and then was feen the period of fac-
tions and civil broils. And novv the parties,
tired of their difcords and feeling the want of
laws, iigh for the epocha ot order and tran-
quillity. Let but a virtuous chief arife, a
powerful and juft people appear, and the
earth will arrive at fupreme powder. It waits
a legiilative people; this is the objed: of its
wiflies and its prayers, and my heart hears its
voice Then turning to the quarter of
the Weil: : Yes, continued he, a hollow noifc
dready ilrikes my ear ; the cry of liberty,
uttered upon the farther fhore of the Atlan-
tic, has reached to the old continent. At
I 2 this
Il6 A SURVEY OF THE
this cry a fecret murmur againft oppreffion
is excited in a powerful nation -, a falutary
alarm takes place refpeding itsfituation ; it
enquires what it is and what it ought to be ;
it examines into its rights, its refources, and
what has been the conduct of its chiefs ....
One day, one reflection more .... and an
immenfe agitation will arife, a new age will
make its appearance, an age of aflonifiiment
to vulgar minds, cf furprife and dread to
tyrants, of emancipation to a great people,
and of hope to the wdiole world.
CHAP.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, II7
CHAP. XIV.
GRAND OBSTACLE TO IMPROVEMENT.
1 H E Genius ftopt. My mind however,
preoccupied with gloomy forebodings, yield-
ed not to perfuafion ; but fearful of offend-
ing him by oppoiition, I made no reply.
After a fhort interval; fixing on me a look
that tranfpierced my foul : You are iilent,
faid he, and your heart is agitated with
thoughts which it dares not utter ! — Con-
fufed and terrified : O Genius, I made an-
fwer, pardon my weaknefs : truth alone has
doubtlefs proceeded from your lips; but your
celeflial intelligence can diilinguifh its traits,
where to my grofs faculties there appear no-
thing but clouds. I acknowledge it, con-
vidlion has not penetrated my foul, and I
feared that my doubts might give you of-
fence.
And what is doubt, replied he, that it
fhould be regarded as a crime ? Has man
the power of thinking contrary to the im-
preflions that are made upon him? If a truth
I 3 b«
Il8 A SURVEY OF THE
be palpable, and its obfervance important,
let us ipi''.y the man who does not perceive it :
his puniflimcnt will infallibly foring from his
blindnefs. If it be uhcer>:ain and equivocal,
how is he to find in it what does not exifl ?
To believe without evidence arid demionftra-
tion is an adl of ignorance and folly. The
credulous man involves himieif in a labyrinth
ofcontradidions; the man of fenfe examines
and difcufies every queftion, that he may be
confiflent in his opinions; he can endure con-
tradition, becaufe from the colliiion evidence
arifes. Violence is the argument of falfe-
hood ; and to impofe a creed authoritatively,
is the index and proceeding of a tyrant.
Emboldened by thefe fentiments, I re-
plied : O Genius, fince my feafon is free, I
ftrive in vain to welcome the flattering hope
with which you would conible me. The
fenfible and virtuous foul is prone enough to
be hurried away by dreams of fancied hap-
pinefs ; but a cruel reahty incefiantly recais
its attention to fuffering and wretchednefs.
The mors I meditate on the nature of man,
the more I examine the prefent ftateof focie-
ty, the lefs poffible does it appear to me
' . . • that
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 119
that a world of wifdom and felicity fliould
ever be realized, 1 farvey the face of our
whole hemifphere, and no where can I per-
ceive the germ of a happy revolution. All
Aiia is buried in the moft profound dark-
nefs. The Chinefe, fubjeded to an info-
lent defpotifm (2;), dependent for their for-
tune upon the deciiion of lots, and held in
awe by flrokes of the bamboo, enilaved by
the immutability of their code, and by the
irremediable vice of their language, offer to
my view an abortive civilization and a race
of automata. The Indian, fettered by pre-
judice, and manacled by the inviolable infti-
tution of his cafts, vegetates in an incurable
apathy. The Tartar, wandering or fixed,
at all times ignorant and ferocious, lives in
the barbarity of his ancefliors. The Arab,
endowed with a happy genius, lofes its force
and the fruit of his labour in the anarchy of
his tribes, and the jealoufy of his families.
The African, degraded from the ftate of
man, feems irremediably devoted to fervi-
tude. In the North 1 fee nothing but ferfs,
reduced to the level of cattle, the live flock
of the eftate upon which they live ( i ). Jg-
I 4 norance,
ISO A SURVEY OF THE
norance, tyranny, and wretchednefs have
every where flruck the natjons with ilupor ;
and vicious habiis, depraving the natural
fenfes, have deriroye,; the very inftind: of
happinefs and truth. In fome countries of
Europe, indeed, reafon begins to expand its
wings ; but even there, is the knowledge of
individual minds common to the nation ?
Has the fuperiority of the government been
turned to the advantage of the people ? And
the'e people, who call themfelves poliflied,
are they not thofe who three centuries ago
filled the earth with their inju (lice ? Are they
not thofe who, under the pretext of corn-
merce, laid India vvafle, difpcopled a new
continent, and who at prefent fubjedt x'\frica
to the mOil: ialiuman llavery ? Can liberty
fpring up out of the bofom of defpots, and
juftice be adminijftered by the hands of ra-
pacity and avarice? O Genius ! I have be-
held civilized countries, and the illulion of
their wifdom has vanilTicd from my fight.
I faw riches accumulated in the hands of
a few individuals, and the multitude poor
and deftitute. I faw ail right and pov/er
concentered in certain claffes, and the mafs
^1 of
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 121
of the people paffive and dependent. I faw
the palaces of princes, but no incorporation
of individuals as fuch, no common- hall of
nations. I perceived the deep attention that
v^as given to the interefts of government; but
no public interefl,- no fympathetic fpirit. I
faw that the whole fcience of thofe who com-
mand confided in prudently oppreffing; and
the refined fervitude of poliffied nations onl}^
appeared to me the more irremediable.
With one obftacie in particular my mind
was feniibly flruck. In furveying the globe,
I perceived that it was divided into twenty
different fyilems of religious worihip. Each
nation has received, or formed for itfelf, op-
pofite opinions, and afcribing to itfelf ex-
♦ clulively the truth, has imagined every other
to be in error. But if, as is the fad:, in this
, difcordance the majority deceive them-
felves, and deceive themfelves with lincerity,
it follows that the human mind as readily
imbibes falfehood as truth; and in that cafe
how is it to be enlightened ? How are preju-
dices to be extirpated that firft take root in
the mind ? How is the bandage to be re-
moved from the eyes, when the firft article
in
112 A SURVEY OF THE
in every creed, the firfl dogma of all religions,
is the profcription of doubt, of examination,
and of the right of private judgment? How
is truth to make itfelf known ? If /he refort
to the demonftration of argument, pufilla-
nimous man appeals againfl: evidence to his
confcience. If fhe call in the aid of divine
authority, already prepoHelled, he oppofes an
authority of a iimilar kind, and treats all in-
novation as blafphemy. Thus, in his blind-
nefs, riveting the chains upon himfelf, does
he become the fport of his ignorance and
paflions. To dilTolve thefe fatal fhackles,
a miraculous concurrence of happy circum-
ftances would be necefTary. It would be
rieceilary that a whole nation, cured of the
delirium of fuperftition, fliould no longer be
liable to the impreffions of fanaticifm; that,
freed from the yoke of a falfe doctrine, it
fhould voluntarily embrace the genuine fyf-
tem of morality andreafon; that it (liould be-
come at once courageous and prudent, wife
and docile; that every individual, acquainted
with his rights, fhould fcrupulouily obferve
their limits; and the poor fhould know how
to reiifl fedudiion, and the rich the allure-
ments
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 123
ments of avarice ; that there fhould be
found upright and diiinterefted'chiefs ; that
its tyrants lliould be feized with a fpirit of
madnefs and folly ; that the people, reco-
vering their powers, (hould perceive their
inability to exercife them, and confent to
appoint delegates -, that having firfl created
their magiilrates, they fliould know both
how to refped: and how to judge them • that
in the rapid renovation of a whole nation
pervaded with abufe, each individual, re-
moved from his former habits, ihould fuifer
patiently the pains and felf-denials annexed;
in fine, that the nation fhould have the cou-
rage to conquer its liberty, the wifdom to
fecure it, the power to defend it, and the ge-
nerofity to communicate it. Can fober judg-
ment exped: this combination of circum-
ilances ? Should fortune in the infinite va-
riety of her caprices produce them, is it
likely that I fliould live to fee that day?
Will not this frame long before that have
mouldered in the tomb ?
Here, opprefied with forrow, my heart
deprived me of utterance. The Genius made
no reply; but in a low tone of voice I heard
him
124 ^ SURVEY OF THE
him fay to himfelf: '* Let us revive the hope
" of this man; for if he who loves his fellow-
** creatures be fuffered to defpair, what is to
^' become of nations ? The paft is perhaps
*' but too much calculated to dejedi him.
" Let us then anticipate futurity 3 let us un-
** veil the aflonilhing age that is about to
*' arife, that virtue, feeing the end of its
*' wifhes, animated with new vigou;*, may
*' redouble its efforts to haften the accom-
^* phfhment of it."
CHAP.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 12^
CHAP. XV.
NEW AGE.
OCARCELY had the Genius uttered to
himfelf thefe words than an immenfe noifc
proceeded from the Weft, and turning my
eyes to that quarter, I perceived at the extre-
mity of the Mediterranean, in the country
ofoneofthe European nations, a prodigious
movement, fimilar to v/hat exifls in the bo-
fom of a large city when, pervaded with fedi-
tion, an innumerable people, like waves, fluc-
tuate in the ilreets and public places. My
ear, flruck with their cries, which afcend--
ed to the very heavens, diilinguifhed at in-
tervals thefe phrafes :
" What is this new prodigy ? What this
** cruel and myfterious fcourge ? We are a
" numerous people, and we want ftrength !
*^ We have an excellent foil, and we are
** deftitute of provifion ! We are adtive and
" laborious, and we live in indigence ! We
^* pay enormous tributes, and we are told
« that
126 A SURVEY OF THE
" that they are not fufficicnt ! We are at
" peace without, and our pcrlbns and pro-
*' perty are net iafe within ! What then is
** the flcret enemy that devours us ?*'
From the n-idfl: of the ccncourfe, feme
individual voices replied: *' Erecft a flandard
*^ of diflincl.'cn, and let all thofe who, by
*' ufeful kbcurs, contribute to the fupport
*' and maintenance offociety, gather round
*^ it, and you will difcover the enemy that
** preys on your vitals/'
The ilandard being eredled, the nation
found itfelf fuddenly divided into two bodies
of unequal magnitude and diffimilar appear-
ance : the one innumerable and nearly in-
tegral, exhibited, in the general poverty of
their drefs, and in their meagre and fun-
bufnt faces, the marks of toil a^id v/retched-
nefs ; the other a pretty groupe, a vaiuelefs
fad-ion, prefented, in thsir rich attire, em-
broidered with gold and filver, and in their
fleek and ruddy comiplexions, the fymptoms
of leifure and abundance. Confidering thefe
men more attentively, I perceived that the
large body was conftituted of labour .rs, arti-
fans, tradefmen, and every profefiion ufeful
to
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 1 27
to fociety ; and that in the lefTer groupe there
were none but priefts, courtiers, public ac-
countants, commanders of troops, in Hiort,
the civil, military, or religious agents of
government.
The two bodies being front to front af-
fembled, and having looked with aflonifh-
ment at each other, I favv the feelings of
indignation and refentment fpring up in the
one, and a fort of panic in the other ; and
the large faid to the fmall body :
Why iland you apart? Are you not of oar
number ?
No, replied the groupe ^ you are the peo-
ple ; we are a privileged clafs ^ we have laws,
cuftoms, and rights peculiar to ourfelves.
People^ ^
And what labour do yon perform in the
ibcicty ?
Privileged Clafs.
None : v^e are not made to labour.
People.
How then have you acquired your
wealth ?
Privileged Clafs,
^Y taking the pains to govern you.
2 - People,
I2S A SURVEY OF TH£
People.
To govern us ! and is this what you call
governing ? We toil, and you enjoy ; we
produce, and you diffipate ; wealth flows
•fron:i us, and you abforb it. . . .Privileged
men, clafs diftindl from the people, form
a nation apart, and govern yourfelves ii).
Then, deliberating on their new fituation,
fome among the groupe faid : Let us join
the people, and partake their burthens ar^
cares ; for they are m.en like ourfelves. Others
replied: To mix with the herd would be
degrading and vile -, they are bom to ferve
us, who are men of a fuperior race. The
civil govenors faid : the people are mild and
naturally fervile^ let us fpeak to them in the
nam.e of the king and the law, and they will
return to their duty. . . . People 1 the king
decrees, the fovcreign ordains.
People.
The king cannot decree any thing which
the fafety of the people does not demand ;
the fovereign cannot ordain but according to
law.
Civil Governors,
The lav/ calls upon you for fubmifTion.
People.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 129^
People.
The law is the general will; and we will
a new order*
Civil Governors,
You are in that cafe rebels,
People,
A nation cannot be a rebel; tyrants only
are rebele.
Civil Governors,
The king is on our fide, and he enjoins
you to fubmit.
People,
Kings cannot be feparated from the nation
in which they reign. Our king cannot be
on your fide ; you have only the phantom of
his countenance.
. Then the military governors advanced,
and they faid : The people arc timorous ; it
is proper to threaten them ; they will yield
to the influence of force.. ..Soldiers, chaflife
this infolent multitude !
People.
Soldiers, our blood flows in your veins !
will you ft-rike your brothers ? If the people
be deflroyed^ who will maintain the army ?
And the ioldiers> grounding their arms,
K faid
IJO A SURVEY OF THE
laid to their chiefs : We are a part of the
people ; we \\ hoin you call upon to fight
againfl them.
Then the eccleliaftical governors faid:
There is but (^nc refource left. The people
arc luperilitious ; it is proper to overawe
them with the names of God and religion.
Our dear brethren, our children,, God has
commiffioned us to govern you.
People.
Produce the patent of his commiffion.
Pn\jis.
You muft have faith -, rcafon leads men
into guilt.
People.
And would you govern us without reafon I
Priep.
God is the God of peace ; religion en-
joins you to obey.
People.
No; juftice goes before peace; obedience
implies a law, and renders neceffary the cog-
nizance of it*
Priep.
This world was intended for trial and
tuffcring. •
People.
fvEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. IJt
People.
Do ydu then flievv us the example of fuf-
Fering.
Priefts.
Would you live without Gods or kings ?
People.
We abjure tyranny of every kind;
Priejis,
You muft have mediators, perfons who
hi ay ad in your behalf.
People,
Mediators with God, and mediators with
the king ! Courtiers and priefls, your fervices
are too expenfive 3 henceforth v/e take our
affairs into our own hands.
Then the fmaller groupe exclaimed : It is
over with us 3 the multitude are enlightened.
And the people replied : You fhall not be
hurt 5 we are enlightened, and we will com-
mit no violence. We defire nothing but our
rights: refentment we cannot but feel, but
we confent to pafs it by : we were ilaves.
We might now command ; but we aik only
to be free, and free we are.
K 2 CHAP,
132 A SURVEY OF THE
CHAP. XVI.
A FREE AND LEGISLATIVE PEOPLE.
1 NOW refiedled with myfelf that public
power was at a ftanJ, that the habitual
government of this people was annihilated,
and I fliuddered at the idea of their falling
into the dillblution of anarchy. But taking
their affairs immediately into their confide-
ration, they quickly difpelled my apprehen-
lions.
" It is not enough, faid they, that we
*' have freed ourfelves from parafites and
** tyrants, we mufl prevent for ever the re-
*' vival of tlieir power. We are human
" being?, and we know, by dear-bought ex-
" perience, that every human being incef-
*' fantly grafps at authority, and wiflies to
*' enjoy it at the expence of others. It h
" therefore neceflary to guard ourfelves be-
*' forehand againft this unfortunate propen-
" fity, the prohfic parent of difcord; it is
" neceffary to efLabhfli rules by which our
. " rights
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, I33
" rights are to be determined and our con-
^* dudl governed. But in this inveftigation
*^ abftrufe and difficult queftions are in-
*^ volved, which demand all the attention
** and faculties of the wifeft men* Occupied
** in our refped:ive calHngs, we have neither
** leii^jre for thefe ftudies, nor are we com-
'^ petent of ourfelves to the exercife of fuch
*' fundlions. Let us feled: from our body
" certain individuals, to whom the employ-
'* ment v/ill be proper. To them let our
** common powers be delegated, to frame for
^' us a fyflem of government and laws : let us
** conilitute them the reprefentatives of our
*' intereils and our wills ; and that this re-
" prefentation may be as accurate as poflible,
*' and have comprehended in it the whole
** diveriity of our wills and intereils, let the
*' individuals that comprize it be numerous,
^' and citizens like ourfelves.''
The feledion being made, the people thus
addreffed their delegates : ** We have hither-
*' to lived in a fociety^ formed by chance,
<* without fixed claufes, without free con-
^^ ventions, without flipulation of rights,
^^ without reciprocal engagements j and a
K 3 " multitudQ
13^ A SURVEY OF TPIt
** multitude of diforders and evils have been
" the refult of this confafed fl:ate of things.
" We would now, with mature deliberation^^
" frame a regular compadlj and Vv'e have
*' made choice of you to draw up the articles
*' of it. Exam.ine then with care what
" ought to be its bafis and principles. In-
*' veftigate the objecfl and tendency of every
" affociation -, obferve v/hat are the rights
" which every individual brings ii:to it, the
'* powers he cedes for the public good, and
** the powers which he referv^es entire to
'' himfelf. Communicate to us equitable
** laws and rules of conduct. Prepare fop
'* us a new fyftem of government, for we
*' feel that the principles, which to this day
*' have" guided us, are corrupt. Our fathers
'' have wandered in the paths of ignoi-ance,
*^ and we from habit have trod in their fteps,
" Every thing., is conduced by violence,
'•' fraud, or delufion ; and the lav/s of mo-.
•' rality and reafon are ftill buried in obfcu-
** rity. Do you unfold the ciiaos ; difcover
" the time, order, and connexion of things;
*' publiih your code of laws and rights , and
f' we will conform to it,"
6 A'~-^
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. . I '^5
And this people raifed an immenfe throne
in ^he form of a pyramid, and feating upon
it the men they had chofen, laid to them:
" We raife you this day above us, that you
** may take a more comprehenfive view of
" our relations, and be exalted above the at-
" n^ofphere of our palTions.
** But remember that you are citizens like
" ourfelvesj that the power which we con-
" fer upon you belongs to us ; that we give
** it as a truft for which you are refponlible,
" not as exclulive property, or hereditary i
" right; that the laws which you make, you
" will be the firft to fubmit to; that to-
" morrow you will defcend from your fta-
" tions, and rank agaiji with us -, that you
" will have acquired no diftinguifhing right,
.** but the right to our gratitude and efteem.
" And oh ! v/ith v/hat glory will the uni-
*' verfe, that reveres fo many apoftles of
*' error, honour the firfl: affembly of en-
• ' lightened and reafonable men, who fliall
*' have declared the immutable principles of
^* juftice to mankind, and confecrated in the
** very face of tyrants the rights of na-
'' tions !"
K 4 CHAP.
136 A SURVEY OF THE
G H A P. XVII.
UNIVERSAL BASIS OF ALL RIGHT AND
ALL LAW.
Jl HESE men, chofen by the people to in-
vefllgate the true principles of morality and
reafon, then proceeded to the object of their
miffion: and after a long examination, having
difcovered a univerfal and fundamental prin-
ciple, they faid to their conflituents: '* We
** have employed our faculties in the invefli-
*' gation you demand of us, and we conceive
** the following to be the primordial bafia
*' and phyiical origin of all juflice and all
'' right.
*' Whatever be the ac^tive power, the mov-
*' ing caufe that diredts the univerfe, this
" power having given to all men the fame
*' organs, the fame fenfations, and the fame
*^ wants, has thereby fufficiently declared
" that it has alfo given them the fame rights
" to the ufe of its benefits; and that in the
" order of nature ail men are equal.
<* Secondly;^
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I37
" Secondly, inafmuch as this power has
*' given to every man the ability of preferv-
" ing and maintaining his own exiftence, it
" clearly follows, that all men are conilitut-
** ed independent of each other, that they
*^ are created free, that no man can be fub-
*^ jed: and no man fovereign, but that all
*' men are the unlimited proprietors of their
*' own perfons.
*^ Equality, therefore, and liberty, are two
*^ effential attributes of man, two laws of
" the Divinity, not lefs elfential and immu-
^' table, than the phyfical properties of ina-
^' nimate nature.
** Again, from the principle, that every
** man is the unlimited mafler of his own
** perfon, it follows, that one infeparable
^* condidon in every contrail and engage-
^' ment is the free and voluntary ccnfent of
^* all the perfons therein bound.
** Farther, becaufe every individual is
" equal to every other individual, it fol-
" lows, that the balance of receipts and
*' payments in political fociety, ought to be
** rigoroully in equilibrium with each other;
^* fo that from the idea of equality immedi-
" atejy
138 A SURVEY OF THE
*' ately iiows that other icica of equity and
iuilice
^* Finally, equality and liberty conflltute
" the phyfical and unalterable bails of every
^* union of men in fociety, and of confe-
^* qiience the neceflary and generating prin-
" ciple of every law and regular fyfiem of
*' government (3),
*' It is becaufe this bafis has been invaded,
" that the diforders have been introduced
*' amongyou,as in every othernation, which
*' have at length excited you to re fi fiance. It
** is by returning once more to a conformity
" with this rule, that you can reform abufes
** and reconilitute a happy order of fociety.
*' We are bound however to obferve to
** you, that from this regeneration there will
'* refult an extreme fr.ock to be endured in
*' your habits, in your fortunes, and in )'our
'^ prejudices. Vicious contrads muft be
" diffolved, unjufl prejudices aboliOiied, ima-
^* ginary dillindions furrendered,and inlqui-
* Tiie etymology of the woyds themfelves trace out to
us this connexion : equiUbriu?)i^ cqualitaSy equitiiSy^irc all ot
one family, and the phyfical idea of equality in the fcalci
of a balance is tlie fource and type of all the reft.
** tous
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 1 39
^^ tous defer! ptions of property abrogated :
?^ in fine, you mud (et out once more from
^* the ilate of nature. Confider whether you
f^ are capable of thefe mighty facrifices/'
They concluded : and while I refiecled
upon the inherent cupidity of the human
heart, I was induced to believe that the oeo-
ple would reject a mxelioration prefented un-
^ier fuch auilere colours. I was miRaken,
Jnilantly a vail crowd of men thronp-ed to-
wards the throne, and folemnly abjured all
riches and all diftindlions. ^^ Unfold to us,
^* cried they, the laws of equality and liberty:
^* we difclaim all future pofieffion that is not
?* held in the facred name of j uilice. Eqitalltyy
*' liberty /juftice^ thefe are our inviolable code,
i' thefe names ihall infcribe our ftancard."
Immediately the people raifed a mighty
ftandard, varied v/itli three colours, and upon
which thofe three v/ords were v/ritten. They
unfurled it over the throne of V:^ legiilators,
and now for the fir ft time the fy mbol of
univerfal and equal juftice appeared upon
the earth. In front of the throne the peo-
ple built an altar, on which they placed gol-
den fcales, a fword, and a book, with this
legend :
140 A SURVEY OF THE
legend: to equal law, the protec-
tor, AND THE JUDGE. They then drew
round the throne a vafl amphitheatre, and
the nation feated itfelf to hear the publica-
tion of the law. MilHons of men, in ad of
folemn appeal to heaven, lifted up their
hands together, and fvvore, *'that they would
" live equal, free, and juft; th \t they would
" refpe6l the rights and property of each
*' other ; thdt they would yield obedience to
** the law and its minifters reguhrly ap-
** pointed."
A fight like this, fo full of fublimity and
energy, fo interefting by the generous emo-
tions it implied, melted me into tears ; and
addrelTmg myfelf to the Genius, I faid :
** Now may I live, for after this there is
** nothing which I am not daring enough %o^
« hope."
CHAP,
DEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I4I
C H A P. XVIII.
CONSTERNATION AND CONSPIRACY OF
TYRANTS.
jVlE AN WHILE, fcarcely had the folemn
cry of liberty and equality refounded through
the earth, than aftonifliment and apprehen-
fion were excited in the different nations. In
one place, the multitude, moved by defire,
but wavering between hope and fear, between
a fenfe of their rights and the habitual yoke
of flavery, betrayed fymptoms of agitation :
in another kings, fuddenly roufed from the
fleep of indolence and defpotifm, were alarm-
ed for the fafety cf their thrones : every
where thofe clafies of civil and religious ty-
rants, who deceive princes and cpprefs the
people, were feized with rage and conflerna-
tion ; and concerting plans of perfidy, they
faid to one another: ^' Woe be to us, fliould
" this fatal cry of liberty reach the ear of the
" multitude, and this deftrudive fpirit of
" jiiilice
l.|2 A SURVKY OK tm
" jufiicc be dilTcmlnatsd." And feeing tM
llandard waving in the air: " What a fvvarnl
*' of evils, cried they, are included in thefe^
" three words ! If all men arc equal, where
«' is our exclufive right to honours and
" power? If all men are, or ought to be free,
*' what becomes of our ilaves, our valTalSi
*' our property ? If all are equal in a civil
" capacity, w^here are our privileges of birth
** and fucceilicn, and v/hat becomes of no-
•* bihty ? If all are equal before God, where
<^ v.'iir be the need of mediators, and what
*' is to become of the priefthocd ? Ah \ let us
'*' acccm^pliih without a mom.ent's delay the
'' dcflrucrion of a oerm fo prolific and con-
'* tagious ! let us employ the whole force
*^ of our art againfl: this calamity. Let us
" found the alarm to kings, that they may
" join in cur caufe. Let us divide the peo«
" pie; let us engage them in war, and turn
*^ afide their attention by conquefls and na-
*' tional iealoufv. Let us excite their ao-«
*•' prehenfions refpedling the pow-er of this
** free nation. Let us form a grand league
" again ll: the common enemy. Let us pull
*' down this ficrilegious ftandard, demolifh
*' this
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I4J
*' this throne of rebellion, and quench this
*' fire of revolution in its outfet.'*
And in reality, the civil and religious ty-
rants of the people entered into a general com -
bination, and having gained, either by con-
ftraint or fedudlion, multitudes on their fide,
they advanced in an hoftile manner againft
the free nation. Surrounding the altar and
the throne of natural law, they demanded,
with loud cries: " V/hat is this new and he-
*' reticai dodrine ? What this impious altar,
** this facfilegious worfliip ? . . . .True belie v-
** ers and loyal fubjeds ! Wouldyounotfup-
" pofe that to day truth has been firil difco-
** vered, and that hitherto you have hten in-
" volved in error ? Would you not fuppofe
" that thefe men, more fortunate than your-
'* felves, have alone the privilege of being
*^ wife? And you, rebel and guilty nation, do
*' you not feel that your chiefs miilead you ?
" That they adulterate the principles of your
** faiths and overturn the religion of your fa-
" thers ? Tremble loft the wrath of heaven
*' be lighted againft you; and haflen byfpeedy
** repentance to expiate your error/*
But inacceifible to fedudion as to terror,
the free nation kept filence : it maintained
aa
144 A SURVEY OF THE
an exad; difcipline in arms, and continued td
exhibit an impofing attitude.
And the legiilators faid to the chiefs of
nations : " If when we went on with our
" eyes hoed » winked, our fleps did not fail
" to be enh'ghtened, why, now that the
** bandage is removed, fhould we conceive
" that we are involved in darknefs ? If we,
.** who prefcribe to mankind to exert their
^' faculties, deceive and miilead them, what
." can be expected from thofe who de^
*' lire only to maintain them in blind-
" nefs ? Ye chiefs of nations, if you poiTefs
" truth communicate it : v/e Ihall receive it
" with gratitude; for with ardour wc pur-
*' fue it, and with intereft fhall engage in
" the difcovery. We are men, and may be
*^ deceived : but vou alfo are men and as
" fallible as ourfelves. Affiil us in this la-
" byrinth, in which the human fpecies has
" wandered for fo many ages : aflift us to
** diffipate the iilufion of evil habits and
** prejudice. Enter the lifts with us in
** the {hock of opinions which difpute for
*^ our acceptance, and engage with us in
" tracing the pure and proper character of
" truth. Let us terminate to day the long
' «' combat
kEVOltririONS OF EMPIRES. I45
«« combat of error : let us eftablifh between
'* it and truth a folemn contefl : let us call
*' in men of every nation to affift us in the
^^ judgment: let us convoke a general afTem-
" bly of the world; let them be judges in
*^ their own caufe; and in the fucceffive trial
" of every fyftem> let no champion and no
" argument be wanting to the fide of preju-
" dice or of reafon. In fine, let a fair exami-
*' nation of the refult of the whole, give birth
** to univerfal harmony of minds and opi-
CHAP.
146 A SURVEY OF THE
CHAP. XIX.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE.
Thus fpoke the legiHators of this free
people ; and the multitude, feized with the
fpirit of admiration, which every reafonable
propofition never fails to infpire, fiiouted
their applaufe, and the tyrants remained
alone, overwhelmed with confufion.
A fcene of a new and aftonifhing nature
then prefented itfelf to- my view. All the
people and nations of the globe, every race
of men from every different climate, advan-
cing on all fides, feemed to afTemble in one
inclofure,and form in diflindt groupes anim-
menfe congrefs. The motley appearance of
this innumerable crowd, occafioned by their
diverfity of drefs, of features and of com-
plexion, exhibited a moft extraordinary and
mofl attractive fpedtacle.
On one fide I could diftinguifli the Euro-
pean with his fliort and clofe habit, his
triangular hat, fmooth chin, and powdered
X hair ;
feEVOLUTloK[S OF EMPIliES. 147
bair; and on the oppofitefide the Afiatic with
a flowing robe^ a long beard, a fhaved head
and circular turban. Here I obferved the in-
habitants of Africa, their fkin of the colour
of ebony, their hair woolly, their body girt
with white and blue fi{h-fkin, and adorned
with bracelets and collars of corals, ihells
and glafs- beads ; there the northern tribes
inveloped in bags of ikinj the Laplander
with his piked bonnet and his fnow fhoes ;
the Samoiede with glowing limbs and with
a ftrong odour; the Tongoufe with his bon^
net fhaped Hke a horn, and carrying his idols
pendent from his neck ; the Yakoutc with
his freckled ikin ; the Calmuc with flattened
nofe and with little eyes, forced as it were
to have no correfpondence with each other.
Farther in the diilance were the Chinefe,
attired in iilk, and v/ith their hair hanging in
treflTes ; the Japanefe of mingled race ; the
Malayans with fprcading ears> with a ring id.
their nofe, and with a vail hat of the leaved
of the palm-tree (4) ; and the l^atoued in-
habitants of the iflands of the ocean and of
the continent of the Antipodes *. The
* The country of the Papons-} or New Guinea.
L a contemplation
148 A SURVEY OF THE
contemplation of one fpecies thus infinitely
varied, of one underfhanding thus modified
with extravagance, of one organization af-
fuming (o contrary appearances, gave me a
a very complicated fenfation, and excited in
meathoufand thoughts (5). I contemplated
with aftonifhment this gradation of colour,
from a bright carnation to a brown fcarcely
lefs bright, a dark brown, a muddy brown,
bronze, olive, leaden, copper, as far as to the
black of ebony and jet. I obferved the
Cafiimerean, with his rofe- coloured cheek,
next in vicinity to the fun-burnt Hindoo;
the Georgian ftanding by the Tartar; and I
refleded upon the effedl of climate hot or
cold, of foil mountainous or deep, marfliy
or dry, wooded or open. I compared the
dwarf of the pole with the giant of the tem-
perate zone; the lank Arab with the pot-
bellied Hollander ; the fquat figure of the
Samoiede with the tall and flender form of
the Sclavonian and the Greek ; the greafy
and woolly head of the Negro with the
fliining locks of the Dane ; the flat-faced
Calmuc, with his eyes angle- wife to each
other and his nofe cruflied, to the oval and
fwelling
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I49
fwelling vifige, the large blue eves, and the
aquiline nofe, of the Circaffian and the
Abaffin. I contraHied the painted linens of
India with the workmanlike cloths of Eu-
rope ; the rich furs of Sileiia ; the various
clothing of favage nations, fkins of fiflies,
platting of reeds, interweaving of leaves and
of feathers, together with the blue-flained
figures of ferpents, ftars, and flowers, with
which their ikin is varied. Sometimes the
general appearance of this multitude, remind-
ed me of the enamelled meadows of the Nile
and the Euphrates, when, after rains and in-
undations, millions of flowers unfold them-
felves on all fides; and fometimes it refem-
bled, in murmuring found and bufy motion,
the innumerable fwarms of grafshoppers
which ahght in the fpring like a cloud upon
the plains of Hauran.
At fight of fo many living and percipient ,
animals, I recoUeded, on one fide, the im-
menfe multitude of thoughts and fenfations
which were crowded into this fpace -, and on
the other, reflected on the contefl of fo many
opinions and prejudices, and the fi:ruggle of
fo many capricious paflions; and I was fi;ruck
L 3 with
J^O A SURVEY OF THE
with ajftonlilimcnt, adniiration, and apprc'-
henfion. . . , When the legiflators, having
enjoined file nee, prefently fixed my attention
on themfelves.
^' Inhabitants of the earth, faid they, a
*' free and powerful nation addrelTes you in
** the name of juftice and of peace, and offers
^' as the fure pledge of its fincenty,its convic-,
*' tion and experience. We were for a long
*' time tormented with the fame evils as you;
" we have enquired into their origin, and we
" have found them to be derived from vio-
♦^ lence and injuflice, which the inexperience
^' of pafi: ages eftablilhed into laws, and the
^' prejudices of the prefent generation have
'' fupported and cheriilied. Then, abolifli-
** ing every factitious and arbitrary inftitu tion,
** and afccnding to the fource of reafon and
*^ of right, we perceived that there exifted in
*^ the order of the univerfe, and in the phyli-
^' cal conftitution of man, eternal andimmu-
*' table laws, which waited only his obfer-
*' vance to render him happy. O men of dif-
" ferent climes, look to the heavens that give
** you light, to the earth that nouriflies you !
*' Since they prefent to you all the fame gifts j
;• J. *^ lince
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. l^t
^^ fince the Power that diredls their motions
'* has beftowed on you the fame life, the
" fame organs, the fame wants, has it not
*' alfo given you the fame right to the ufe of
^* its benefits ! Has it not hereby declared
" you to be all equal and free ? What mortal
*' then fhall dare refufe to his fellow-crea-
" ture that which is granted him by nature?
** O nations ! let us banifh all tyranny and
** difcord -, let us form one fociety, one vaft
" family ; and fince mankind are all confti-
*' tuted alike, let there henceforth exifl: but
" one law, that of nature ; one code, that of
" reafon ; one throne, that of juftice; one
** altar, that of union/*
They ceafed : and the multitude rended
the Ikies with applaufe and acclamation; and
in their tranfports made the earth refound
with the words equa/ify,Ju/iice, union. But
different feelings prefently fucceeded to this
firft emotion. The dodlors and chiefs of
the people exciting in them a fpirit of difpu-
tation, there arofe a kind of murmur, which,
fpreading from groupe to groupe, was con-
verted into uproar, and from uproar into
-diforder of the firft magnitude. Every na-
L 4 tion
152 A SURVEY OF THE
tion affumed exclurivepretenfions, and claim-
ed the preference for its own opinions and
code.
'' You are in error/' faid the parties point-
ing at each other; " we alone are inpoHeffion
^' of reafon and truth : ours is the true law,
" the genuine rule of juftice and right, the
*' fole means of happinefs and perfedtion; all
-' other men are either blind or rebellious."
And the agitation became extreme.
But the legiflators having proclaimed fi-
lence: '* People,*' faid they, " by what im-
** pulfe of paffion are you agitated? Where
'' will this quarrel condud: you ? What ad-
'' vantage do you exped:from this diffenfion ?
^* For ages has the earth been a field of dif-
'* putation, and torrents of blood have been
" ilied to decide the controverfy: what profit
** have you reaped from fomr.ny combats and
*' tears ? When the ilrong has fubjea:ed the
" weak to his opinion, has he thereby fur-
*' thered thp caufe of evidence and truth? O
** nations, take council of your own wifdom !
** If difputes arife between families, or in-
** dividuals, by what mode do you reconcile
^' them ! Do you not appoint arbitrators ?
j^ d i^ res-
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I53
" TeSy* exclaimed the multitude unanimouf-
ly. " Treat then the authors of your pre-
** ient diiTenfions in a ilimilar manner. Com-
** mand thofe who call themfelves your in-
'^ ftrudors, and who impofe on you their
" creed, to difcufs in your prefence the argu-
^' ments on which it is founded. Since they
" appeal to your interefts, underftand in what
*' manner your interefts are treated by them*
** . . . And you, chiefs and doctors of the
" people, before you involve them in the
" difcordance of your opinions, let the rea-
^' fons for and againft thefe opinions be
'' fairly difcuffed. Let us eflablifh a folemn
" controverfy, a public inveftigation of truth,
" not before the tribunal of a frail indivi-
'' dual, or a prejudiced party, but in prefence
*' of the united information and interefts of
''^ mankind; and let the natural fenfe of the
^' whole fpecies be our arbitrator and judge/*
CHAP,
-1.54 A SURVEY. OF THE
CHAP. XX.
JNVESTIGATION OF TRUTH.
X HE people having by fliouts expreffed
their approbation, the iegiflatorsfaid: "That
^* v;e niay proceed in this grand work with
*' order and regularity, let a fpacious am-
** phitheatre be formed in the fand before
^^ the altar of union and peace : let each
** fyitem of religion and each particular fed:,
^^ ered its proper and dif^inguifliing i^Andard
^* in points of the circunif^^rence ; let its
*' chiefs and its dodors place themfelves
*' round it, arid let their followers be ranged
*' in a right iiiie terminated by the ftandard.''
The amphitheatre being traced out, and
order proclaimed, a prodigious number of
ftandards were inilantly raifed, fimilar to
what is feen in a commercial port, when, on
daysof fefl:lvity,the liags of a hundred nations
ftream from a foreft of mafts. At fight of
this ailonifhing diverfity, I addrefied myfelf
to the Genius : I fcarcely fuppofed the earth,
faid
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. .I55
iaid I, to be divided into more than eight or
ten different fyftems of religion, and I then
defpaired of conciliation : how can I now
hope for concord when I behold thoufands
of different parties !—Thefe, however, re-»
plied the Genius, are but a part of what exift;
and yet they would be intolerant !
As the groupes advanced to take their fta-
tions, the Genius, pointing out to me the
fymbols and attributes of each, thus explain-
ed to me their meaning.
That firft groupe, faid he, with a green
ftandard, on which you fee difplayed a crofs,
a bandage, and a fabre, is formed of the fol-
lowers of the Arabian prophet. To believe
in a God (without knowing what he is) ^ to
have faith in the words of a man (without
underftanding the language in which he
fpeaks) ; to travel into a defert in order to
pray to the Deity (who is every where) ; to
wafti the hands with water (and not abflain
from blood) ; to fail all day (and pradife
intemperance at night) ; to give alms of their
own property (and to plunder the property
pf their neighbour) : fuch are the means of
perfection inftituted by Mahomet, fuch the
fignals
156 A SURVEY OF THE
fjgnals and charaderlflics of his true fol-
lowers ; and whoever profefTes not thefe
teiicts, is ccnfidered as a reprobate, has the
facred anathema denounced againft him^ and
is devoted to the fword. A God of clemency,
the author of life, has, according to them,
jnftituted thefe laws of oppreffion and mur-
der ; has inftituted them for the whole uni-
verfe, though he has condefcended to reveal
them but to one man 5 has eftabliilied them
from all eternity, though they were made
known by him but yellerday. Thefe laws
ere fufiicient for all the purpofes of life, and
yet a volume is added to them ; this volume
was. to diffufe light, to exhibit evidence, to
lead to perfection and happinefs, and yet, in
the very life-time of its prophet, its pages,
every where abounding with obfcure, am-
biguous, and contradictory paiiages, needed
explanation and commentaries ; and the per-
fons who undertook to interpret them, vary-
ing in opinion, became divided into fed:s and
parties oppofite and inimjical to each other.
One maintains that Ali is the true fuccelTor,
and another takes the part of Om.ar and
Aboubekre. This denies the eternity of the
Koran,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 1 57
Koran, that the neceiTity of ablutions and
prayers. The Carmite profcribes pilgri-
mage, and allows the ufe of wine , the Hake-
mite preaches the dodlrine of tranfmigration,
and thus are there fecfts to the number of fe-
venty-two, of which you may enumerate
the different flandards (6). In this difcord-
ance, each afcribing the evidence exclufively
to itfelf, and ftigmatizing the reft with he-
refy and rebellion, has turned againfl them
its fanguinary zeal. And this religion, which
celebrates a beneficent and merciful God, the
common parent of the whole human race,
converted into a torch of difcord and an in-
centive to war, has never ceafed for twelve
hundred years to whelm the earth in blood,
and fpread ravage and defolation from one
extremity of the ancient hemifphere to the
other (7).
The men you fee dlilinguifhed by their
vafl; white turbans, their hanging fleeves and
long rofaries, are the Imans, the Mollas, and
the Muftis ; and not far from them are the
Dervifes with a pointed bonnet, and the
Santons v/ith their facred tonfure. They
utter with vehemence their feveral con%f-
fions
I5S A SURVEY OF ttlE
lions of faith ; they difpute with eagernef^
refpecling the more or lefs important fources
of impurity ^ the tnode of performing ablu-
tions ^ the attributes and perfections of God;
the Chaitan and the goad and evil Genii ;
death ^ the refurredion -, the interrogatory
which fucceeds the tomb 3 the paiTage of the
perilous bridge, and its hair-breadth efcapes;
the balance of good and bad works ; the
pains of hell, and the joys of paradife.
By the fide of thefe, that ftiil more nu-
merous groupe, with ftandards of a \Vhite
ground flrewed with croffes, confiils of the
worihippers of Jefus. Aclcnowledging the
fame God as the MuiTulmans, founding their
belief on the fame books, admitting like
them a firfl man, who loft the whole human
race by eating an apple, they yet feel to-
wards them a holy horror; and from motives
of piety, thefe two feds reciprocally treat
each other as impious men and blafphemers.
Their chief point of diiTcnfion is, that the
Chriftian, after admitting the unity and in-
divifibility of God, proceeds to divide him.
into three perfons, makmg of each an entire
and complete God, and yet prelerving an
•■" - identical
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I59
identical whole : he adds, that this Being,
who fills the univerfe, reduced himfelf to
the ftature and form of a man, and aiTumed
material, periiliable, and limited organs,
without ceafing to be immaterial, eternal, and
infinite. The Muffulman, on the contrary,
not able to comprehend thef^ myfteries,
though he readily conceives of the eternity
of the Koran, and the mifiion of the prophet,
treats them as abfurdities, and rejedls them
as the vifions of a difordered brain. Hence
refult the mofl implacable animofities.
Divided among themfelve s, the Chriftian
fe6ls are not lefs numerous than thofe of the
Muffulman religion ; and the quarrels that
agitate th^:m are by fo much the more vio-
lent^ fince the cbjedts for which they contend
being inacceffible to the {^nks, and of con-
fequence incapable of demonflration, the
opinions of ea^h fedlary can have no other
foundation than that of his will or caprice*
Thus agreeing that God is an incompre-
iienfible and unknown being, they neverthe-
lefs difpute refpedting his eifence, his mode
of adting, and his attributes. Agreeing that
his fuppofed transformation into man, is an
enignia
l6o A SURVEY OF THE
enigma above the human underftanding,
they flill difpute refpedting the confuiion or
the diilindtion of two w^ills and two natures,
the change of fubftance, the real or fiditious
prefence, the mode of incarnation, 6cc. &c.
Hence innumerable fedls, of which two or
three hundred have already perifhed, and
three or four hundred others flill exift, and
are reprefented by that multitude of colours
in which your fight is bewildered. The
firfh in order, furrounded by a groupe abfurd
and difcordant in their attire, red, purple,
black, white, andfpeckled, with heads whol-
ly or partially £haved, or with their hair fhort,
with red caps, fquare caps, here with mitres,
there with beards, is the ftandard of the
Roman pontiff, who, applying to the priefl-
hood the pre-eminence of his city in the
civil order, has erected his fupremacy into
a point of religion, and made of his pride an
article of faith.
At the right, you fee the Greek Pontiff,
who, proud of the rivallhip fet up by his
metropolis, oppofes equal pretenfions, and
fupports them againfl the Weflern church,
by the fuperior antiquity of that of the Eaft.
At
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. l6l
At the left, are the ftandards of two recent
chiefs *, who, throwing off a yoke that was
become tyrannical, have, in their reform,
erected altars againft altars, and gained half
Europe from the Pope. Behind them are
the inferior feds into which thefe grand
parties are again fubdivided, the Neflorians,
the Eutycheans, the Jacobites, the Icono-
clafls, the Anabaptifts, the Prefbyterians, the
Wiclifites, the Oliandrins, the Manicheans,
the Pietifts, the Adamites, the Enthufiafts,
the Quakers, the Weepers, together with a
hundred others (8) ; all of diftind parties,
of a perfecuting fpirit when ftrong, tolerant
v/hen weak, hating each other in the name
of a God of peace, forming to themfelves an
exclufive paradife in a religion of univerfal
charity, each dooming the reft, in another
world, to endlefs torments, and realizing
here the imaginary hell of futurity.
Next to this groupe, obferving a fingle
ftandard of a hyacinth colour, round which
were gathered wen in all the various dreiies
of Europe and Afia : Here, faid I to the
Genius, v/e (hall at leaft find unanimity, —
'^ Luther and Calvin.
M At
162 A SURVEY OF THE
At iirft fight, replied he, and from an in-
cidental and temporary circumftance this
would feem to be the cafe : but do you not
know what fyflem of worfliip it is ? — Then
perceiving in Hebrew letters the mono-
gram of God, and branches of the palm-
tree in the hands of the Rabbins : Are not
thefe, faid 1, the children of Mofes, difperfed
over the earth, and who, holding every na-
tion in abhorrence, have been themfelves
univerfally defpifed and perfecuted ? — Yes,
replied the Genius, and it is for this very
reafon that, having neither time nor liberty
to difpute, they have preferved the appear-
ance of unanimity. But in their re-union,
no fooner fhall they compare their princi-
ples, and reafon upon their opinions, than
they will be divided, as formerly, at leaft into
two principal fedts *, one of which, taking
advantage of the filence of their legiflator,
and confining itfelf to the literal fenfe of his
books, will deny every dogma not thereirk
clearly underftood, and of confequence will
rcjed: as inventions, the immortality of the
foul, its tranfmigration into an abode of hap-
* The Sadducees and the Pharifces.
V - - ' . , pinefs
ilEVbLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 163
|)inefs or feat of pain, its refurred:ion, the
iaft judgment, the exiftence of angels, the
revolt of a fallen fpirit, and the poetical fyf-
tem of a world to come : arid this favoured
people, whofe perfection confifls in the cut-
ting off a morfel of their flefli, this atom of
people that in the ocean of mankind is but
as a fmall wave, arid that pretends that the
whole was made for them alon6, will far-
ther reduce by one half, in confequenee of
their fchifm, their already trivial weight ia
the balance of the univerfci
The Genius then directed my attention
to another groupe, the individuals of which
were clothed in white lobes, had a veil co-
vering the mouth, and were ranged round
a ftandard of the colour of the clouds gilded
by the rifing fun. On this ftandard was
painted a globe, one hemifphere of which
was black and the other white. The fate
of thefe difciples of Zoroafler (9), conti-
nued he, this obfcure remnant of a people
once fo powerful, will be iimiiar to that of
the Jews. Difperfed as they are at prefent
among other nations, and perfecuted by all,
they receive without difcufnon the precepts
M 2 that
164 A SURVEY OF THE
that are taught them : hut fo foon as their
Mobed and their Deftours (10) fhali be
reftored to their full prerogatives, the con-
troverfy v^ill be revived refpeding the good
and the bad principle, the combats of Or-
muz, God of light, and Ahrimanes, God of
darknefs ; the literal or allegorical fenfes of
thefe combats ; the good and evil Genii ;
the worOiip of fire and the elements ; pol-
lution and purification ; the refurredtion of
the body, or the foul, or both (11); the
renovation of the prefent world, or the pro-
duction of a new which is to fucceed it.
The Parfes will ever divide themfelves into
fedls, by fo much the more numerous as
their fam>ilies fliall have contradled different
manners or opinions during their difperfion.
Next to thefe are ilandards which exhibit
upon a blue ground mionftrous figures of
human bodies, double, triple, or quadruple,
with the heads of lions, boars, and elephants,
and tails of fiilies, tortoifes, &c. Thefe are
tlie flandards of the Indian feds, who find
their Gods amidfi: the animal creation, and
the fouls of their kindred in reptiles and
infeds. Thefe men anxioufly fupport hof-
pitals
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 165
pitals for the reception of hawks, ferpents,
and rats, and look with horror upon their
brethren of mankind ! They purify them-
felves with the dung and urine of a cow,
and confider themfelves as polluted by the
touch of a heretic ] They wear a net over
their mouths, leil: by accident a fly Ihould
get down their throat, and they Ihould thus
interrupt the progrsfs of a purified fpirlt in
its purgatory ; but with all this humanity in
unintelligible cafes, they think themfelves
obliged to let a Paria (12) periih with hun-
ger rather than relieve him ! They worfhip
the fame Gods, but inlifl themfelves under
.hoftile ilandards.
This firfl ftandard, feparated from the
reil:, and on which you fee reprefented a
iigure with four heads, is the ftandard of
Brama, who, though the Creator of the
univei-fe, has neither followers nor temples,
and who, reduced to ferve as a pedeftal to
the Lingam (13), receives no other mark
of attention than a little water fprinkled
every morning over his fhoulder by the
Bramin, and a barren fong in his praife.
The fecond ftandard on which you fee
M 3 painted
J 66 A SURVEY OF THE
painted a kite, his body fcariet and his head
white, is that of the Vichenou, who, though
preferver of the unlverfe, has pafled a part
of his hfe in malevolent actions. Some-
times you fee him under the hideous forms
of a boar and a lion tearing the entrails of
mankind; fometinies under that of a horfe
(14), foon to appear upon the face of the
earth, with a fab re in his hand, to deftroy
the prefent inhabitants of the world, to
darken the ftars, to drive the planets from
their fpheres, to fliake the Vvhole earth,
and to oblige the mighty ferpent to vomit
a flame which fhall confumic the globes.
The third ftandard is that of Chiven, the
deftroyer of all things, the God of defola-
tion, and who neverthelefs has for his em-
blem the inflrument of production ; he is
the moft deteftable of the three, and he has
the greatefh num.ber of followers. Proud
of his attribute and charadler, his partizans
in their devotions (15) exprefs every fort
of contempt for the other Gods, his equals
and his brothers, and imitating the incon-
fiftency that charadlerifes him, they profefs
mcdefty and chaftity, and at the fame time
publicly
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 167
publicly crown with flowers, and bathe with
milk and honey, the obfcene image of the
Lingam.
Behind them came the lefs m^agnificent
ftandards of a multitude of Gods, male, fe-
male, and hermaphrodite, related to and
connected with the three principal, who pafs
their lives in intefline war, and are in this
refpedt imitated by their worfhippers. Thefe
Gods have need of nothing, and receive of-
ferings with©ut ceafing. Their attributes
are omnipotence and ubiquity, and a Bramin
with fome petty charm imprifons them in
an image, or in a pitcher, and retails their
favours according to his will and pleafure.
At a ftill greater difrance you will obferve
a multitude of other ftandards, which, upon
a yellow ground, common to them all, have
different emblems figured, and are the fland-
ards of one God, who, under various names,
is acknowledged by the nations of the Eafl,
The Chinefe woriliip him under the name
of Fot (16) ; the Japanefe denominate him
£//^ ; the inhabitants of Ceylon, Beddhow^
the people of Laos, Chekia ; the Peguan,
Fbtci\ the Siamefe, Sommona-Kodom -, the
M ij. people
l68 A SURVEY OF THE
people of Thibet, Budd and La ; all of theQ;^
agree as to moft points of his hiftory ; they
celebrate his penitence, his fufferings, his
fafts, his fundions of mediator and expiator,
the enmity of another God his adverfary,
the combats of that adverfary and his de-
feat: but they difagree refped:ing the means
of recommending themfelves to his favour,
refpeding rites and ceremonies, refpeding
the dogmas of their interior and their public
dodrine. Thus the Japanefe Bonze, in a
yellow robe, and with his head uncovered,
preaches the eternity of fouls and their fuc-
celiive tranfmigration into different bodies ;
while his rival, the Sintoift, denies that the
foul can exift independentlv of the fenfe^s
(17), and maintains that it is the m.ere re-
fult of the organization with which it is
connedled, and with which it periilies, as
the found of a flute is annihilated when you
break it in pieces. Near him the Siam.efe,
• with Hiaved eye -brows, and with the Ta-
jipat fcreen in his hand (18), recommends
alms-giving, purifications and offerings, at
the very time that he believes in blind ne-
ceffity and immutable fate. The Chinefe
,. ^ • Plo-Chang
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 169
Ho-Chang facrifices to the fouls of his an-
ceftors, while his neighbour, the follower
of Confucius, pretends to difcover his future
deftiny by the toffing of counters and the
conjunction of the ftars (19). Obferve this
infant attended by a numerous crowd ,of
priefts wuth yellow garments and bonnets :
he is the grand Lama, and the Qod of Thi-
bet has juft become incarnate in his perfon
(20). He however has a rival on the banks
of the Baikal -, nor is the Calmuc Tartar in
this refpedl any way behind the Tartar of
La-fa. They are agreed in this important
doctrine, that God can become incarnate
only in a human body, and fcorn the flupi-
dity of the Indian, who looks down with
reverence upon cow- dung, though they
themfelves preferve with no lefs awe the
excrements of their pontiff (21),
As thefe ilandards paiTed, an innumerable
crowd of others prefented themfelves to our
eyes, and the Genius exclaimed : I fliould
never come to a conclufion, were I to detail
to you ail the different fyflems of belief
which divide thefe nations. Here the Tartar
Hordes adore, under the figure of animals,
infects.
IjO A SURVEY OF THE
infeds, and birds, the good and the evil
Genii, who, under a principal but indolent
divinity, govern the univerfe, by their ido-
latry giving us an image of the ancient pa-
ganifm of the weilern world. You fee the
ilrange drefs of their Chamans, a robe of
leather fringed with little bells and rattles,
embroidered with idols of iron, claws of
birds, fKins of ferpents, and heads of owls :
they are agitated with artificial convulfions,
and with magical cries evoke the dead to
deceive the living. In this place you be-
held the footy inhabitants of Africa, who,
while they worfhip their Fetiches ^ entertain
the fame opinions. The inhabitant of
Juida adores God under the figure of an
enormous ferpent, which for their misfortune
the fwine regard as a delicious morfel (22).
The Tekutean drelfes the figure of bis
God in a variety of gaudy colours, like a
Ruiiian foldier ; and the Kamchadale, find-
ing that every thing gees on ill in this world
and under his climtate, reprefents God to
himfelf under the figure of an ill-natured
and arbitrary old man (23), fmoking his
pipe and fitting in his traineau employed in
the
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, I71
the hunting of foxes and martins. In fine,
there are a hundred other favage nations,
who, entertaining none of thefe ideas of
civilized countries refpedting God, the foul,
and a future ftate, exercife no fpecies of
worfliip, and yet are not lefs favoured with
the gifts of nature, in the irreligion to
which nature has deilin^d them.
CHAP,
t^z
A SURVEY OF THi;
c H A P. xxr.
PROBLEM OF RELIGfCUS CONTRADIC-
TIONS.
1 H E diri'erent groupes having taken their
jdations, aiid profound filence fucceeding to
the confufed uproar of the niuhitude, the
legiilators faid: *' Chiefs and doctors of the
' people ! you perceive how the various
^ nations of mankind, hving apart, have hi-
'' therto purfiied dilferent paths, each be-
' lieving its own to be that of truth. If
^ truth, however, is one, and your opinions
' are oppoilte, it is manifsfl that icme of
* you mull: be in error : and fince fo many
* men deceive themfelves, what individual
' iliall dare fay, I arn not mitfaken? Begin,
' then, by being indulgent refpeding your
' difputes and diffentions. Let us all feek
' truth, as \i none of us had poffeiTion of it.
* The opinions which to this day have go-
' verned the earth, produced by chance,
* dilTeminated in obfcurity, admitted with-
^ out difcuifion, credited from a love of
■J . ■ "' " novelty
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 1^3
^^ novelty and imitation, have in a manner
*^ clandeilinely ufurped their empire. It is
" time, if they are founded in reality, to
" give them the folemn flamp of certainty,
*' and to legitimate their exiflence. Let us
^* this day cite them to a common and ge-
" neral examination; let each make known
" his creed ^ let the united affembly be the
** judge, and let us acknowledge that to be
" the only true one, v/hich is proper for the
^' whole hum.an face."
Then, in order of pofition, the firft ftand-
ard at the left being defired to fpeak :
*^ There can be no doubt," faid they, " that
** ours is the only true and infallible doc-
" trine. In the firil place, it is revealed
'^ by God himfelf."
" So alfo is ours," exclaimed all the other
ftandards, " and there can be no room for
'' doubt."
" But it is at leail neceffary to explain it,"
faid the legiflators, " for it is irapoffible for
" us to believe any thing of which we are
** ignorant."
*' Our dodtrine,'' refumed the firft ftand-
ard, *^ is proved by numerous fads, by a
*' crowd of miracles, by reiurre<ftions from
'' the
174 ^ i^URVEY OF -tKE
** the dead, by torrents fuddenly dried up^
*' mountains removed from their fituations^
*' &c. &c/'
" We alfo," cried the reft, '* are in poflef-
" fion of miracles without number /'and each
began to recite the moft incredible things,
" Their miracles," replied the firfl fland-
ard, " are imaginary, or the prefliges of the
** evil fpirit who has deluded them."
To this it was anfwered by the others :
** They are yours, on the contrary, that are
*' imaginary ;" and each fpeaking of himfelf
added : ** Ours are the only true ones, all
** other miracles are falfe."
" Have you living witneiTes of their
" truth ?" the legiflators afked.
" No," they univerfally anfwered : " they
•' are ancient fad:s, of which the witneiTes
*' are dead, but thefe fadls are recorded."
*' Be it fo," replied the legiflators : " but
*' as they contradidl each other, wlio ihall
'' reconcile them ?"
" Juft arbiters !" cried one of the ftand-
ards, " as a proof that our witneffes have
" feen the truth, they died in confirmation
" of it; and our creed is fealed with the
*' blood of martyrs."
" S9
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. ty§
** So alfo is ours," exclaimed the reft t
*' we have thoufands of martyrs, who have
" died in the moft agonizing tortures, with-
" out in a fingle inftance abjuring the truth."
And the Chriflians of every fed, the Muf-
fulmans, the Indians, the Japanefe, recount-
ed endlefs legends of confelTors, martyrs,
penitents, Sec.
One of thefe parties having denied the
martyrology of the others : " We are ready,"
cried they, " to die ourfelves to prove the
" infallibility of our creed."
Inftantly a crowd of men of every fed:
and of every religion, prefented themfelves
to endure whatever torments might be in-
fiided on them ; and numbers of them be-
gan to tear their arms, and to beat their
head and their breaft, without difcovering
any fymptom of pain.
But the leglflators putting a flop to this
violence : *^ O men !" faid they to them,
*' hear with compofure the words we ad-
*' drefs to you. If you die to prove that two
** and two make four, will this truth gain
** additional confirmation by your death ?"
** No," was the general anfwer.
I «If
ty6 A SURVEY OF THE
^* If you die to prove they are five. Will
** this make them five ?'*
** No," they again replied.
" What, then, does your perfiiafion prove,
*' fince it makes no alteration in the exifl-
" ence of things. Truth is one -, your opi-
" nions are various ^ many of you muft
*' therefore be miltaken. And fince man, as
*^ is evident, can perfuade himfelf of error,
** how can his perfuanon be regarded as the
'* demonflration of evidence ? Since error
^* has its martyrs, what is the fignet of
" truth ? Since the evil fpirit v/orks mira-
" cles, what is the diflinguiiliing charader-
" iftic of the Divinity ? Befide, why this
" uniform refort to incomplete and infufii-
*' cient miracles ? Why not rather, inflead
*' of thefe violations of nature, change the
*• opinions of rational beings ? Why mur-
" der and terrify men, infiead of enlighten-
" ing and infi:rud;ing them ?
" O credulous mortals, and obftinate in
" your credulity ! as we are none of us cer-
" tain of what pafied yeflerday, of what is
** paffing this very day before our eyes, how
" can we fwear to the truth of what hap-
" pened
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I77
*<^ pened two thoufand years ago ? Weak, and
^ at the fame time proud beings ! the laws
" of nature are immutable and profound, our
*^ urderilandings full of illufion and frivolity,
" and yet we would decide upon and com-
" prehend every thing. But in reality it is
** eaiier for the whole human race to fall into
'' error, than an atom of the univerfe to
** change its nature."
" Well then,'' faid one of the.dodlors,
*^ let us leave the evidence of fa6ls,lince fach
** evidence is equivocal, and let us attend to
*' the proofs of reafon, and the intriniic me-
*' rit of the doctrine itfelf."
An Iman of the law of Mahomet, with
a look of confidence, then advanced in the
fand, and having turned himfelf towards
Mecca, and uttered with emphafis his con-
feffion of faith : ** Let God be praifed !" faid
he, in a grave and authoritative voice ; " the
** light fhines in all its fplendour, and the
*' truth has no need of examination." Then
exhibiting the Koran : " Behold the light
*' and the truth in their genuine colours ! In
"this book every doubt is removed; it will
*' condud the blind man fafely, who ihall
N *^ receive
178 A SURVEY OF THE
^' receive without difcuffion the divine word,
*' given to the prophet to fave the fimplc *
*' and confound the wife. God hath ap-
" pointed Mahomet to be his miniiler upon
*' earth ; he has delivered up the world to
** him, that he might fubdue by his fword
" fuch as refufe to beheve in his law. Infi-
** dels difpute his authority, and refiil the
'^ truth : their obduracy proceeds from God,
*' who has hardened their hearts that he
** might inflid; upon them the moft dreadful
" chaftifements */*
Here a violent murmur from all fides in-
terrupted the Iman. *' What man is this/'
cried every groupe, " who thus gratuitoufly
*' commits outrage? By what right does he
" pretend, as conqueror and tyrant, to im-
*' pofe his creed on mankind ? Has not God
** created us as well as him with eyes, under-
" landing, and reafon? Have we not an equal
*^ right to make ufe of them in determining
* This paflage contains the fenfe and nearly the very
words of the firft chapter of -the Koran; and the reader
will obferve in general, that, in the pictures that follovv^.
the writer has endeavoured to give as accurately aspofliblc
the letter and fpirit of the opinions of each party.
" what
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. Ijg
" what we ought to rejecfl, and what to be-
** lieve ? If he have the right to attack, have
*\ not we the right to defend ourfelves? If he
** be content to believe without examination,
*^ are we therefore not to employ our reafon
** in the choice of our creed ?
** And v/hat is this^/^'W/^dodrine which
** fears the light? What this apoftle of a God
" of clemency who preaches only carnage
" and murder? What this God of juftice who
*' puniflies a blindnefs which himfelf has
*' caufed? If violence and perfecution are the
** arguments of truth, mildnefs and charity
^* mufl they be the indices of falfehood?"
A man advancing from .the next group©
then faid to the Iman : '* Admitting that
*' Mahomet is the apoftle of the better doc-
" trine, the prophet of the true religion,
" condefcend to tell us^ in prad:ifing thi's
" dodrine whom we are to follow, his fon-
** in-law Ali, or his vicars Omar and Abou-
" bekre (24) ?"
At the mention of thefe names a terrible
fchifm arofe among the MufTulmans. The
partifans of Omar and of Ali, treating each
other as heretics and blafphemers, were
N 2 ecjually
iSo A SURVEY OF THE^
equally lavilh of execrations. The dlfpule
even became fo violent, that it was necelTary
for the neighbouring groupes to interpofe to
prevent their coming to blows.
Some degree of tranquillity being at length
reftored, the legiflators faid to the Imans :
*' You fee what are the confequences which
*' refult from your principles ! were they
\' carried into pra-sTtice, you would by your
" enmity deflrcy each other till not an in-
** dividual would remain : and is it not the
" firilhw of God, that man fliould live ?"
Then "^dreffing themfelves to the other
groupes : " This fpirit of intolerance and
*' exclufion," faid they, '^ is doubtlefs iliock-
*' ing to every idea of jufliice, and deflroys
" the whole bafis of morals and fociety : fliall
*' we not, however, before we entirely reject
*^ this code, agree to hear fome of its dogmas
*' recited, that we may not decide from
*^ forms only, without having inveftigated
*^ the religion itfelf ?"
The groupes having confented to the pro-
pofal, the Iman began to explain to them
how God, who before time had fpoken to
the nations funk in idolatry by twenty-four
thou fa nd
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. l8l
tkoufand prophets, had at length fent the
lail, the extract and perfediion of all the reft,
Mahomet, in whom was vefted the falvation
of peace: he informed them that to prevent
the word of truth from being any more per-
verted by infidels, the divine clemency had
written with its own -fingers the chapters of
the Koran ; and that the Koran, by virtue of
its character of the word of God, was, like its
author, uncreated and eternal. He proceeded
to explain to them the dogmas of Iflamifm;
that this book had been tranfmitted from
heaven leaf by leaf in twenty-four .^oufand
miraculous viiions of the angel Gabriel; that
the angel announced his approach by a fmall
ftili knocking, which threw the prophet into
a cold fweat; that Mahomet had in one
night traverfed ninety heavens, mounted upon
the animal called Bbrak,one half woman and
one half horfe; that being endowed with the
gift of m*iracles, he walked in the funftiine
unattended by a (hadgw, caufed with a fingle
w^ord trees already withered to refume their
verdure, filled the wells and the ciftejns with
water, ar^d cut in two equal parts the body of
the moon 5 that, authorized by a commiffion
N 3 from
lS2 A StJRVEY OF THfi
from heaven, he had propagated, fword in
hand, a rehgion the moft worthy of God for
its fublimity,the moil: faitable to man for the
iim.plicity of its injundlions, confifting indeed
only of eight or ten principal dodrines, fuch
as the unity of God; the authority of Maho-
met, the only prophet of God -, our duty to
pray five times in a day ; to faft one month
in the year; to repair to Mecca once at lead
in our lives 3 to pay the tenth of all that v^e
poffefs ; to drink no wine, to eat no pork,
and to make war upon the infidels (25) 5
upon which conditions every Mufiulman, be-
ing himfelf an apcflle and a martyr, fiiould
enjcy in this life a thoufand blefiings, and in
the world to come, after a folemn trial, his
foul being weighed in the balance of good
works, his abfolution pronounced by the two
black angels, and hisprogrefs performed over
the bridge that crofTes the infernal pit, as nar-
row as a hair and as keen as a razor, ihould
be received in the feat of delights, bathed in
rivers of milk and honey, em.balmed in the
perfumes of India and Arabia, and live in
uninterrupted commerce with thofe chafle
females, the celefiial Houiis, who prefent a
perpetually
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. iSj
perpetually renewed virginity to the eledt,
who preferve a perpetual vigour.
An involuntary fmile was viiible in the
countenance of every one at this relation ;
and the various groupes, reafoningupon thefe
articles of belief, unanimoufly faid : ** Is it
*' poffible for reafpnable beings to have faith
** in fuch reveries ? Might one not fuppofe
" that a chapter had been juft read to us
'* from the Thoufand and One NighisT^
A Samoiede advancing in the fand then
faid : " The paradife of Mahomet is in my
*^ opinion excellent : but one of the means
** of obtaining it puzzles me extremely. If,
" as this prophet ordains, it is neceffary to
*Vabflain from meat and drink between the
" riling and fetting of the fun, how in our
" country is fuch a faft prad:icable, where
*' the fun continues above the horizon for fix
" months together ?"
To vindicate the honour of their prophet,
the MufTulman doctors denied the poffibility
of this; but a hundred people bearing tefti-
mony to the fad:, the infallibility of Maho«
met fuftained a violent fhock.
" Itisfingular,"faidaEuropean, "thatGod
N 4, " fhould
<e
ft
<(
184 A SURVEY OF THE
" fhould continually have revealed what was
going on in heaven, without ever having
informed us of what paffes upon earth.'*
Their pilgrimage," faid an American,
is to me an iniuperable difficulty. For let
^' us fuppofe a generation to be twenty-five
** years, and the number of males exifting on
** the globe to be a hundred milHons : in
*• this cafe, each being obliged to travel to
" Mecca once during his life, there would be
'' annually engaged in the pilgrimage four
*^ millions of men ; and as it would be im-
*^ pradicable for them to return in the fame
*' year, the number would be doubled, or in
** other words would amount to eight mil-
'' lions. Where are provifions, accommoda-
*' tion, water, and vefTels to be found for this
'^ univerfal proceffion? Whajtj^fUmerous mi-
** racks would it not be necefiaijy to work !'*
" The proof," faida Catholic Divine,*' that
" the religion of Mahomet is not a revealed
" religion, is, that the majority of ideas upon
"■ which it is founded exifted for a long tim.e
*' before it, and that it is nothing more than a
*' confufed mixture form.ed out of the truths
** of our holy religion and that of the Jews,
^* which
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I 85
*' which an ambitious man has made ferve
** his projects of dominion, and his worldly
** views. Turn over the pages of his book :
** you will fee little elfe than the hiftories of
** the Old and New Teftament traveflied
'' into the mofl abfurd tales, and the reft u
^^ tiffue of vague and contradid:ory declama-
^^ tion, and ridiculous or dangerous precepts.
** Analyze the fpirit of thefe precepts, and
" the conduct of their apoftle : you will find
^' a fubtle and daring character, which, to ar-
*' rive at its end, works, it is true, with ad-*
*^ mirable fkill upon the paffions of thofe
** whom it wiHies to govern. It addreffes
" itfelf to fimple and credulous men, and it
*^ tells them of prodigies : they are ignorant
" and jealous, and it flatters their vanity by
*' defpifing fcience; they are poor and rapa-
'' cious, and it excites their avidity by the hope
'* of plunder -, having nothing at firft to give
'' them on earth, it creates treafures in hea-
'' ven ', it makes them long for death, as the
'' fupreme bleiTmg ^ the daflardly it threa-
•* tens with hell ; to the brave it promifes
*' paradife j the weak it flrengthens by the
*^ principle of fatality : in fhort, it produces
'' the
l86 A SURVEY OF THE
*' the attachment it requires, by every al-
** lurement of the fenfes, and the fafcination
" of all the paffions.
'' How different is the charader of the
** Chriftian dodlrine ! and how much does its
" empire, eflablifhed on the wreck of every
•* natural inclination and the extindtion of
*' all the paffions, prove its celeftial origin !
** How forcibly does its mild and compaf-
** fionate morality atteft its emanation from
" the Divinity ! Many of its dogmas, it is
*' true, are beyond the reach of human un-
*' derftanding, and impofe on reafon a re-
*^ fpedtful filence ; but this very circum-
*^ fiance the more fully confirms its revela-
*' tion, fince the faculties of men could never
*' have invented fuch fublime myfteries."— ~
Then, with the Bible in one hand, and the
Four Evangelifts in the other, the dodor
began to relate that in the beginning, God
(after having pafTed an eternity without do-
ing any thing) conceived at length the de-
fign (without apparent motive) of forming
the world out of nothing: that having in fix
days created the whole univerfe, he found
himfelf tired on the feventh : that having
5 placed
KEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 187
placed the firft pair of human beings in a de-
lightful garden to make them completely
happy, he neverthelefs forbad them to tafte
of the fruit of one tree which he planted
within their reach : that thefe iirft parents
having yielded to temptation, all their race
(as yet unborn) were condemned to fuffer
the penalty of a fault which they had no
fhare in committing : that after permitting
the human fpecies to damn themfelves far
four or five thoufand years, this God of com-
paffion ordered his well-beloved fon, engen-
dered without a mother and of the fame age-
as himfelf, to defcend upon the earth in or-
der to be put to death, and this for the fal-
vation of mankind, the majority of whom
have neverthelefs continued in the road to
fin and damnation : that to remedy this in^
convenience, this God, the fon of a woman,
who was at once a mother and a virgin, af-
ter having died and rifen again, commences
a new exiftence every day, and under the
form of a morfel of dough is multiplied a
thoufand fold at the pleafure of the bafeft of
mankind. Having expl^iined thefe dogmas,
he was going on to treat of the dodrine of
the
l88 A SURVEY OF THE
the Sacraments, of abfolution and anathema,
of the means of purifying men from crimes
of every fort with a drop of water and the
muttering half a dozen words ; but he had
BO fooner pronounced the names of indul-
gence, papal prerogative, fuflicient grace,
and. effecliial grace, than he was interrupted
by- a thoufand voices at once. It is a horrid
corruption, cried the Lutherans, to pretend
to fell for money the pardon of fm ; it is con-
trary to the fenfc of the gofpel, faid the Cal-
vinifls, to talk of the real prefence in the
Sacrament. The Pope, exclaimed the Jan-
fenifls^ has no power to decide upon any
thing without a council. Thirty feds at
once mutually accufed each other of herefy
and blafphemy, and their voices wxre fo con-
fufed that it was no longer poffible to dif-
tinguiih a word they uttered.
. After fome time, filence being at length
reftored, the MuiTulmans faid to the legifla-
tors: *' Since you have rejeded our do<5lrine
** as containing things incredible, can you j
" poffibly admit that of the Chriflians, which
*' is fliil more contrary to juflice and com-
" mon fcnfe ? An immaterial and infmite
« God
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPtREs'. 189
" God to transform himfelf into a man !
" To have a fon as old as himfelf! This
** God-man to become bread, which is eaten
*' and undergoes digeftion ! What abfurdi-
*' ties have we equal to thefe ? Is it to thefe
" men belong the exclufive right of exad:-
*' ing a blind obedience ? And will you ac-
" cord to them privileges of faith, to our
" detriment ?"
Some favage tribes then advanced : ^*What/*
faid they, " becaufe a man and a woman eat
*' an apple iix thoufand years ago, is the
^' whole human race to be involved in dam-
" nation ? And do you call God jufl? What
" tyrant ever made the children refponfible
'' for the fms of their fathers? How can one
" man anfwer for the a(flions of another ?
" Would not this be overthrowing every
" principle of equity and reafon ?'*
*' Where," exclaimed others, " are the
** witneffes and proofs of all thefe pretended
" fadts ? It is impoffible to receive them
" without evidence. The moil trivial ac-
" tion in a court of judicature requires two
" witneffes, and are we to believe all this
" upon mere tradition and hearfay ?"
A Jewifh
190 A SURVEY OF THE
A Jewifh Rabbin then, addreffing the af*
fembly, faid: " For the general facfts we are
*' indeed fureties; but as to the form and ap-
" plication of thofe fads, the cafe is different,
** and the Chriftians are here condemned out
" of their own mouth. They cannot deny
** that we are the ilock from which they are
"^ defcended, the trunk upon which they
'^ have been grafted : from whence it fol-
*' lows by an inevitable dilemma, that either
*^ our lav/ is from God, and then theirs is a
•^ herefy, fmce it differs from ours ; or our law
^^ is not from God, and then whatever proves
" its falfehoodis deftrudive of theirs."
" But tliere is a proper line of diflindion,'*
faid the Chrillian, " to which it is neceffary
*' to attend. Your law is of God as typical
*' and preparative, not as final and abfolute j
** you are but the image, of which we are
"the reality."
" We are not ignorant," replied the Rab-
bin, " that fuch are your pretenfions ; but
" they are perfedly fuppofitious and falfe.
•' Your fyftem rclls entirely on myftical (26),
** vilionary, and allegorical interpretations.
" You pervert the letter of our books, fub-
" flitute
; «c
L
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I9I
" ftitute continually for the true fenfe of a
" pafTage the moft chimerical ideas, and find
*' in them whatever is agreeable to your
** fancy, juft as a roving imagination difco-
*^ vers figures in the clouds. You have thus
** imagined a fpiritual Mefliah, v^here our
** prophets fpeak only of a political king.
** You have interpreted into a redemption of
*' the human race, what refers folely to the
*' re-eftabiifhment of our nation. Your pre-
" tended conception of the virgin is derived
** from a phrafe which you have wrefted
** from its true meaning. You conflrue
*^ every thing as you pleafe. You even find
" in our bocks your doclrine of the Trinity,
" though they contain not the moft indiredl
*' allufion to it, and though the idea was an
*' invention of profane nations, and admitted
" into your code, together v/ith a multitude
" of other opinions of every worfhip and fedt
" of which it is compofed, during the chaos
and anarchy of the three firft ages."
At thefe words, tranfported with indigna-
tion, and crying out facrilege, blafphemy !
the Chriftian dodors were difpofed to lay
violent hands upon the Jew : and a motley
groupe
tp± A StJRVEV OF THS
groupe of monks, fome in black, feme iH
white, advancing with a ftandard on which
pincerSf a gridiroji, and a funeral pile , and the
woxdisjz^jiice, charity, and mercy, were paint-
ed *, exclaimed: " It is proper to make art
*^ example of this impious heretic, and to
*' burn him alive for the glory of God."
And already they had pictured to their ima-*
ginations the fcene of torture, when the
MulTulm-ans in a tone of irony faid to them :
" Such is the religion of peace, whofe hum-
*' ble and humane fpirit you have fo loudly
*' vaunted ! Such that evangelical charity
*^ which combats incredulity with no other
" weapon than mildnefs, and oppofes only
*' patience to injuries ! Hypocrites, it is thus
** you deceive nations ! It is in this manner
*' you have propagated your deftrudive er-
^' rors ! When weak, you have preached li-
" berty, toleration, and peace ; when power
'^ has been in your hands, you have prac-
** tifed violence and perfecution !".... And
they were beginning to recite the wars and
murders of Ch riftianity, when the legif-^
* This dcfcriptlon anfv/ers exa6lly to the colours of
the Inquilition of Spanifh Jacobins.
lators
KEVOLUTIONS OF EMPII^ES. I95
la tors, demanding filence, aiTuaged for a
while the difcord.
*' It is not," rephed the monks in a tone
of affected mildneis and humility, **ourlelves
" that we would avenge, we are dellrous
" only of defending the caufe and glory of
*' God."
'' And what right have you,'* faid the
Imans, *' to conflitute yourfeives his repre-
*' fentatives m.ore than VvC? Have you pri-
^' vilec;es that we are not favoured with ?
'' Are 3/0U beings of a different nature from
** us r
'^ To take upon ourfelves to defend God,
'' is to infiilt his wifdom and power," faid
another groiipe. " Does he not know bet-
'- ter than mortals what is becoming bis
*^ dignity !"
" Certainly," rejoined the monks j " but
'^' his ways are fecret."
** You, however," faid the Rabbins, "will
'• always find the difficulty infuperable of
'' proving that you enjoy the exclufive pri-
" vilege of comprehending them." And the
Jews, proud of hnding their caufe fupported,
fondly pleafed themfelves with the idea that
O their
194 A SURVEY OF THE
•their books would be triumphant^ when
the Mobed ^ of the Parfes begged leave to
fpeak.
'* We ha\'e heard," faid he to the legifla-
*' tors, the account of the Jews and Chriilians
" refpe<fting the origin of the world, and
" though they have introduced various cur-
*' ruptions, they have related a number of j
" fads which our reli2:ion admits ; but we
" deny that they are to be attributed to the
^' Hebrew legifiator. It was not he who
" made known to mankind thefe fubjime
^* dogmas, thefe cckilial events : it was not
" to him that God revealed them, but to our
" holy prophet Zoroafter ; and proofs of
*' this are to be found in the very books in
*' queilion. If you examine with attention
** the detail of laws, of rights, and of pre-
•* cepts ellabliflied by Mofes, you will no
** where find the moft tacit indication of
^' what conftitutes at prefent the bafis of the
•* Jewifh and Chriilian theology. You wilLl
'^ perceive no trace either of the immortality
*' of the foul 3 or a life to come, or hell, or
• .. . - * Higbpriell.
^' paradifc
REVOLUTIONS OF lEMPlRES. I95
^* paradife, or the revolt of the principal an-
" gel, author of all the evils which have af-
*' Hided the human race^ &c. Thefe ideas
^* were unknovv^i to Mofes, and this appears
*' from in difpu table evidence, iince it was not
*' till four hundred years after him that they
*' were fir A; promulgated by Zoroafter in
'' Alia (27)."
The Mobed added, addrefling himfelf to
the Rabbins : *' It was not till this epocha,
*^ till after the age of your firft kings, that
*' thefe ideas appeared in your writings; and
" then their appearance was furtive and
** gradual, according as there grew up a po-
^' iitical relation betv^^een your anceflors and
•'^ ours. It was particularly at the period
" when, conquered and diiperfed by the
" kings of Nineveh and Babylon, your pro-
^' genitors reforted to the banks of the Ti«
" s^ris and the Eunhrates, and refided in our
*' country for three fucceffive generations,
*' that they imbibed our manners and opi-
** nions, which before they had regarded
' *' with averiion^ as contrary to their law.
** When our king, Cyrus, had delivered them
O 2 " from
196 A SURVEY OF THE
** from flavery they felt attached to us from
" fentimsnts of gratitude; they became cur
** difciples and imitators, and introduced
*' our peculiar doctrines Into the corrected
" pubhcaticn of their facred bocks (28);
" for your G^jnefjs in particular was never
" the work of Mofes, but a compilation di-
" geifed after the return from the Babylo-
*' nim Cciptivity, and containing in it the
*' Chaldean opinions refoedlin^; the cris:!^
'* of the world.
" At hrft the pure followers of the law,
'-* oppohno; to the emigrants the letter of the
'* text and the abibliite filence of the pro-
-' rhet, endeavoured to overpower thefe in-
*' novation. s ; but they ultimately prevailed,
*' and mir doLtrincs, iiiOdified according to
** yoi-r ideas, gave rile to a new feet. You
-' expected a king, the reuorer of your poli-
'' tical independence ; we announced a God,
'• the regenerator of the world, and the fa-
"" vlour of mankind. Thefe ideas blended
'' together, confii[uted the tenets of the Ef-
*' Iciiians, and throuo-h them became the
*' bafis of Chriicianity. Jews, Chriflians,
" Maiiometanp, however lofty may be your
^* pretcnfions.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. I97
" preteniion?, you are, in your fpiritual and
'' immaterial fyitem, only the blundei-ing
'^followers of Zoroafter !"
Having thus commenced his difcourfe, the
Mobed went en to the detail of his religion ;
and fupporting his fentiments by quotations
from the Zadder and the Zendavefla, he re-
counted in the fame order as they are found
in the book of Geneiis, the creation of the
world in fix gahans (29) ; the formation of a
firfl man and a firft woman in a peculiar and
celeflial habitation, under the reign of perfect
good;, the introduifcion of evil into the world
by the great lizard, the emblem of Ahrimanes i
the revolt and combat of this ma'^nificent
genius of darknefs, again/l Ormuz the be-
nevolent God of light ; the dillribution of
angels into white and black, good and ill i
their hierarchy coniifling of cherubim, fera-
phim, thrones, dominions, 5cc. ; the end of
the world at the clofe of fix thoufand years ;
the coming of the Lamb, the regenerator of
nature; the new world; the life to come in
an abode of felicity or anguiili ; the paffage
of fouls over the bridge of the abyfs ; the
celebration of the myileries of Mithra \ the
O 3 un|eayene4
198 A SURVEY OF THE
unleavened bread that is fet apart for the ini- ^
dated : the baptifm of nev/-born children ^
extreme undtion and auricular confeiiion
(30' ', in a word, he repealed fo many arti-
cles analogous to thofe of the three oreced-
ing religions, that his difcourfe feemed to
be a commentary or a continuation of the
Koran or the Apocalypfe.
But the Jewiih, Chriftian, and Mahome«
tan doclcrs excepted to this detail, and treat-
ing the Parfcs as idolatrous worfhippers of
fire, charged them with falfehocd, invention,
and alteration of fadxs. A violent diipute
then arofe refpedling the dates of events, their
order and fjcceflion, refpe«flinp- the origin of
opinions, their tranfmiflion from one people
to another, the authenticity of the books
which eilabliih them, the epccha when thefe
books v/ere compofed, the character of their
compilers, the value of their tefLimony ; and
the various parties proving, each agamfc the
reft, contraaidions, improbabilities, and the
counterfeit nature of their books, accufcd one
another of having founded their creed upon
popular rumours, upon vague traditions, up-
on abfurd fables, invented by folly, and ad-
mitted
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIP.ES. I99
mitted without examination by unknown,
ignorant, or partial writers, at doubtful pe^
riords, and different from thofe to^ which
their partifans referred them.
A loud rumour was now exxited under the
ftandards of the various Indian fedls, and the
Bramins, entering their protefl againft the
claims of the Jews and the Parfes, faid :
" What are thefe upftart and almoil un-
*' known people, who thus arrogantly ccn-
*^ iider themfelves as the founders of nations,
^' and the depofitories of the facred archives ?
*^ To hear their calculations of five or fix
" thoufand years, one v/ould fuppofe that
*' the world was but of yefi:erday, whereas
" our monuments prove a duration of many
" thoufands of centuries. And in w^hat re~
" fpedl are their books preferable to ours ?
^' Are then the V^edes, the Chailires, the
*' Pourans, inferior to the Bible, the Zenda-
" vefta, the Sadder (31 ) ? Is not the tefti-
^^ mony of our progenitors and our Gods, of
*' equal value with that of the Gods and
'' progenitors of the weilern world ? Oh !
** were we permitted to reveal to profane
'* men the myfl:eries of our religion ! Did
. O 4 •'' not
200 A SURVEY OF THE
*' not a facred veil jufl-ly hide our doctrine
** from every eye !"....
The Bramins fiiddenly obferving a pro-
found filence: " Flow/' laid the legiilators,
" can we admit your dodrine^ if you refufe
" to make it known? How could its iirfl
" authors propagate it, wb.en, having fole
** poffeffion of it, they regarded even their
" own people as profane ? lias heaven re-*
*' vealed it t:iat it might be kept a fecretr '
The Eramins however perhfled in their
filence j and a European at this moment of-
fering to fpeak, remarked, that their fecrecy
was at prefent an empty form, that their fa-
cred books were divulged and their dodrine
explained: he accordingly undertook to re-
capitulate its feveral articles.
Besiinriino; with an abftracl of the four
Vedes,the twenty-eight Pourans^and the five
or fix Chad res, he recounted how an imma-
terial, infinite, eternal, and r^^W/W Being, after
having palled an unlimited portion ot time
in felf-contemplatioDj delirous at length of
manif^fling himfeif, feparated the faculties
of male and fema'e which were m him, and
operated an ad of •^eneratlcn of which the
, - , Lingani
KEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 201
Lingam remains the emblem: how from this
firfl zCi were born three divine powers, of
the names of Brama, Bichen, or Vichenou,
and ChiborChiven (32), the nrft deputed to
create, the fecond to preferve, the third to
deftroy or chcinge the form of the univerfe.
He then detailed the hiftory of their exploits
and adventures, and related how Brama,
proud of having created the world and the
eight Bobouns (or fpheres) of probation, and
of being preferred to his equal Chib, this
pride occafioned betvv^een them a combat, in
which the globe* or celeflial orbits were bro-
ken to pieces, as if they had been a baiket of
eggs: howBrama overcome in thiscontefl,
was reduced to ferve as a pedeftal to Chib,
metamorphofed into the Lingam: how Vi«
chenou, the preferver of the univerfe, had,
in the difcharge of his fun6rion,airumed nine
animal and mortal forms; how under the
firfl:, that of a iifh, he faved from the univer-
fal deluge a family by whom the earth was
re- peopled; afterwards, in the fliape of a tor-
toife (33), drew from the fea of milk the
mountain ilf^/^^rd'^^i'/r/ (the Pole); then, un-
der that of a bear, tore the entrails of the
giant
202 A SURVEY OF THE
giant EreJZJuacheJJhi, by whom the earth had
been funk in the abyfs of DJo/e, from which
he delivered it ; hovv^ he became incarnate
under the form of the Black Shepherd, and
bearing the name of Chrif-tm refcued the
world from the venomous ferpent Calengam,
whofe head h^ cruflied, after having himfelf
received a wound in his heel.
Palling to the hiil:ory of the fecondary
Genii, unfolded to the ailcmbly how the
Eternal, for the difplay of his glory, had
created divers orders of angels, whofe ofiice
it vv'as to iing his praifes and direct the uni-
verfe : that a part of thefe angels had revolted
under the condud: of an ambitious chief, who
wiflied to ufurp the power of God, and take
the reigns of government into hisown hands:
that God precipitated them into a world of
darknefs as a punifhment for their mifdeeds:
that at lafb, touched with compaffion, he
confented to withdraw them from thence,
and to receive them again into £;vour, after
previoufly fubjecling them to along fiate of
probation : that for this purpofe, having
created fifteen orbits or regions of planets,
and bodies to inhabit them, he obliged thefe
rebellious
REVOLUTIONS QF EMPIRES. 2O3
rebellious angels to undergo eighty -f even
tranfmigrations : that the fouls, thus purified,
returned to their primitive fource, to the
ocean of life from which they had emanated :
that as all living beings contained a portion
of this univerfal foul, it was an a6l of great
criminality to deprive them of it. He was
proceeding to develope the rites and cere-
monies of this religion, when, fpeaking of
Oiierings and libations of milk and butter to
Gods of v/ood and of brafs, he was interrupt-
ed by a univerfal murmur mixed with loud
burfls of laughter.
Each of the difFerentgroupesreafonedin its
own particular manner refpedlingthis fyftem.
*' They are idolaters/' faid the Muffulmans,
^: it IS our duty to exterminate thtm ". . ..
" They are mad/' faid the followers of Con-
fucius, *' it is our duty to cure them ". . . .
'' What abfurd Gods," cried the reft, " a fet
" of fat monkeys begrimmed with fmoke,
*^ whom they wafh like children in clouts,
^' and from whom they drive away the flies,
** lured by the tafte of honey, who would
'' otherwife defile them with their excre-
'' ments !"
At thefe words a Bramin, burfting with
§ indignation^
204 A SURVEY OF THE
indignation, exclaimed : '' Thefe are in-
'' fcrutable myileries, the profound em-
** blems of truth, which you are not wor-
^' thy to know/*
*' And how comes it/' replied a Lania of
Thibet, ** thatyou are more worthythan we ?
*' Is it becaufe you .pretend to be fprung
** from the head of Brama, v/hile the reft of
** mankind derive their origin from the lefs
'^ noble parts of his body ? If you would
** fupport the flibie of your origin, and the
** vain diftinctions of your cafls, prove that
** 370U are of a nature different from us ; prove
'' at leaO: by hiilorical teilim.ony the ailego-
*' ries you maintain; nay, prove that 3/ou are
V' really the authors of thisfyftcm; for on our
*' part we are able to prove, if that were
" neceffary, that you have only flolen and
*^ disfigured it; that you have borrowed the
" ancient paganifm of the wefhefn world,
*' and blended it by an abfurd conceit with
*' the purely fpiritual nature of our Gods
** (34)3 a nature which floops not to addrefs
'' itfelf to the fenfes, and was wli oily unknown
•' to the world till the mlffion of Beddou/'
Inftantly innumerable voices demanded to
be informed of this nature, and to hear of
•-' that
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 205
tint God with whofe very name the majority
of them were unacquainted. In purfuance
of this demandv'the Lama refumed.
*^ In the beginning," faid he, '* there v/a:>
*' one God, felf-exiilent, who palled through
" a whole eternity, abforbed in the contem-
" plation of his own refledllons, ere he de-
'* termined to manifeft tbofe perfections to
** created beings, when he produced the
" matter of the world. The four elements,
" at their produ6lion,lay in a flate of mingled
" confufion, till he breathed upon the face of
" the waters, and they immediately became
" an immenfe bubble, fliaped like an egg,
" W'hich when complete became the vault or
" globe of the heavens in which the world is
'' inclofed (39). No fconer was the earth
" and the bodies of animals produced, than
*' God, the fource of motion, beilow'ed upon
*' them as a living foul a portion of his fub-
^^ ftance. Thus the foul of every living
*^ thing, being only a fradtion or feparate
** part of the univerfal foul, no percipient
*' being is liable to perilh, but merclv changes
^' its form and mould as it palTes fuccciTivcly
^* into different bodies. But ot all the fub-
'^ ftantial
206 A SURVEY OF THE
*' funtial forms that of man is men: pleafing
" to the Divine Being, as nioll: refembling
" his uncreated perfed:iors; and man, when,
" by withdrawing himfelf from the com-
'^ merce of the fenfes, he becomes abforbed
^^ in the contempktion of his own nature,
'^ difcovers the Divinity that refides in it, and
** himfelfbecomes worthy of Divinity. Thu?
**■ is God inceffantly rendering himfelf incar-
'' nate; but his greatefi: and moil folemn in-
*' carnation was three thoufand years ago^
*' in the province of Cafiimere, under the
"■ name of Fot or Beddou, for the purpofe of
*' teachinf^^ the dodlrineof felf-denial and feif-
" annihilation." The Lama proceeded to de-
tail the hiriory of Fot, obferving, that he had
fprung from the right intercollal of a virgin of
the royal blcod, who, when (lie became a mo-
ther, did not the lefs continue to be a virgin :
that the king of the countiy, uneafy at his
birth, w^as defirous to put him to death, and
caufed all the males v/no wxre born at the
fame period to be maflacred: that being faved
by fhepherds, Beddou lived in the defert to
the age of thirty years, at w^hich time he
opened his commiflion, preaching the doc-
trine
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 2O7
trine of truth and cafting out devils : that he
performed a multitude of the moft aftonifh-
ing miracles, fpent his life in faffing and the
fevereft mortifications, and at his death be-
queathed to hisdifciples the volume in which
the principles of his religion are contained.
The Lam.a then began to read —
" He that forfaketh his father and his
" mother," fays Fot, *^ to follow me, ihall
" become a perfed: Samanean (a heavenly
" being).
" He that keepeth n\j precepts to the
" fourth degree of perfed:ion, ihall acquire
" the power of flying in the air, of mioving
" earth and heaven, of protracting or ihort-
** ening his life, and of riiing again.
" The Samanean looks vvith contempt on
** riches, and makes ufe only of fuch things
*' as are ilridly neceflary. He mortifies the
**' flefh, fubdues his paffions, fixes his defires
" and affedions on nothing terreftrial, medi-
*^ tates without ceafing upon my dodlrine,
" endures injuries with patience, and bears
*' no enmity againil his neighbour.
" Heaven and e^rth,'' fays Fot, '' ihall pafs
" away; defpife therefore your bodies which
** art?
2o8 A SltRVEY OF THE
*' are compofed of the four periiliable ele-
'^ ments^andthinkon]} ofyourimmortalfoul.
*' Hearken not to the faggefcions of the
" fiefli : fear and fcrrov/ are the produce of
" the paffions : flifle the pafiions, and fear
*^' and forrow will thus be dcftrcycd.
*' Whofocver dies,'* fays Fot, ** without
** having received my dodrine, becomes
**' again and again an inhabitant of the earth,
'' till he fliali have embraced it."
The Lama was going on with Iiis ex-
tradis when the Chriflians interrupted him^
obferving, that this religion was an altera-
tion of theirs ; that Fot was Jefus himfelf
disfigured, and that the Lamas were nothing
more than a degenerate fed: of the Neflo-
rians and Manicheans.
But the Lama (36), fuppcrted by all
the Chamans, Bonzes, Gonnis, Tala-
poins of Siam, of Ceylon, of Japan, and
of China, demonltratcd to the Chrif-
tians from their cwn Theologians, that
the dodrine of the Samaneans was known
throuo-h the Eafl unwards of a thou-
fand years before Chriftianity exifted ; that
their name was cited previous to the reign
of
REVOLUTICNS OF EMPIRES. 2Q()
of Alexander, and that that of Boutta or
Beddou could be traced to a more remote
antiquity than that of Jefus — " And now,
faid they, retorting upon the Chriftians,
** do you prove to us that you are not your-
*' felves degenerated Samaneans ; that the
** man whom you confider as the author of
*^ your feet is not Fot himfelf in a different
*' form. - Demonftrate his exiftence by hif-
*' torical monuments of fo remote a period
" as thofe which we have adduced (37) ;
*' for as it appears to be founded on no au-
*' thentic teftimony, we abfolutely deny its
*' truth ; and we maintain that your gofpels
^' are taken from the books of the Mythriacs
" of Periia, and the Effenians of Syria, who
" were themfelves only reformed Sama-
*^ neans (38)."
Thefe words excited a general outcry on
the part of the Chriitians, and a nevv^ dif-
pute m.ore violent than any preceding one
was on the point of taking place, when a
groupe of Chinefe Chamans,,and Talapoins
of Siam came forward, pretending that they
could eafily adjufl: every difference, and pro-
duce in the-affembly a uniformity of opi~
F nion.
210 A SURVEY OF THE
ilion, and one of them fpeaking for the reft^,
feid : " It is time that we fl:iould put an
" end to all thefe frivolous difputes, by
** drawing aiide the veil and expofing to
*' your view the interior and fecret dodtrine
*' w^hich Fot himfelf, on his death-bed, re-
*' vealed to his difciples (39). Thefe va-
*^ rious theological opinions are mere chi-
*' m.eras -, thefe accounts of the attributes^
** anions and life of the Gods are nothing,
*' m.ore than allegories and myfterious fym-
^^ bols, under which moral ideas, and the
'^ knowledge of the operations of nature in
*' the action of the elements and the revo-
*' lutions of the planets, are ingeniouily de-
*' nidled.
'' The truth it, that there is no reality in
" any things that all is illufion,appearancey
** a dream ; that the moral metemfychofis is
" nothing more than a figurative fenfe cf
'' the phyfical metemfychofis, of that fuc-
*^ cefiive m.otion by which the elements o?
**' which a body is compofed, and which
*' never perifii, pafs, when the body itfelf
'-' is difiblved, into a thoufand others, and
*' form new combinations. The foul is^
" merely
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 211
^ merely the vital principle refulting from
*' the properties of matter, and the action of
** the elements in bodies, in which they
*' create a fpontaneous movement. To fup-
*' pofe that this refult of organization,which
** is born with it, developed with it, fleeps
*' with it, continues to exifl when organ iza-
" tion is no more. Is a romance that may be
" pleafing enough, but that is certainly chi-
" merical. God himfelf is nothing more
*' than the principal mover, the occult power
" diffufed through every thing that has bc-
^' ing, the fum of its laws and its properties,
^' the animating principle, in a word, the
"^ foul of the univerfe ; which, by reafon of
*' the infinite diverfity of its connedions and
*^ operations, confidered fometimes as fimple
^^ and fometimes as multiple, fometimes as
*^ ad:ive and fometimes as paffive, has ever
** prefented to the human mind an infolv-
/^ able enigma. What we can comprehend
** with greateft perfpicuity is, that matter
** docs not periHi ; that it pofiefTes effential
'* properties, by which the world is go-
^^ verned in a mode iimilar to that of a liv-
*' ing and organifed being j that, with re-
P a " foed
%i'Z A SURVEY OF THE
*•' fped: to man, the knowledge of its laws k'
'' what conllitates his wifdom; that in their
*' cbfervance confifl: virtue and merit ; and
" evil, fin, vice, in the ignorance and viola-
*' tion of them -, that happinefs and misfor-
*^ tune are the refpedive refult of this ob-
*"* fervance or negled:, by the fame neceflity
** that occafions light fubftances to afcend,
*' heavy ones to fall, and by a fatality of
" caufes and effedts, the chain of which ex-
" tends from the fmalleft atom to the flars of
" greateft magnitude and elevation (40)/*
A crowd of Theologians of every fed: in-
flantiy exclaimed, that this dodrine was rank
materialifm, and thofe who profeffed it im-
pious Atheifls, enemies both of God and
man, who ought to be extirpated from the
earth. — " Sirange reafoning," replied the
Chamans. '* Suppofing us to be miftaken,
" which is by no means impoilible, iince it
'^ is one of the attributes of the human mind
^^ to be fubjed to iilufion, what right have
*'' you to deprive beings like yourfelves of
** the life which God has given them ? If
" heaven confiders us as culpable, and look*
*^ upon US; \vith horror, why does it difpenfe
** to
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 213
*^ to US tHe fame blefflngs as to you 1 If it
*^ treats us with endurance, what right have
*' you to be lefs indulgent ? Pious men,
** who fpeak of God with fo much certainty
*' and confidence, condefcend to tell us what
" he is I explain, fo that we may compre-
*^ hend them, thofe abftract and metaphy-
" ileal beings which yo.u call God and the
*' foul; fuhiliances without matter, exifl:-
*' ence without body, life without or titans or
" fenfations. If you difcover thefe beings
** by means of your fenfes, render them in
*^ like manner perceptible to us. If you
" fpeak of them only upon tePcimony and
" tradition, fliovy us a uniform recital, and
^' give an identical and determinate balls to
** your creed.'*
There novy arofe a warm controverfy be-
tween the Theologians refpedling the nature
of God and his mode of a6ling and mani-
felling himfelf ; refpeding the foul and its
union with the body, v^hether if has exig-
ence previous to the organs, or from the
time of their formation only; refpeding the
life to come and another world ; and every
fed, every fchool, every individual, differing
P 3 from
214 A SURVEY OF THE
from the reft as to all thefe points, and af-
figning for its diffent plaufible reafons and
refpe6lable but oppofite authorities, they
were all involved in an inextricable laby-»
rinth of contradi(flions.
At length, the legiflators having reftored
filence, recalled the difpute to its true objed:,
and faid : " Leaders and inftrudiors of the
" people^ you came hither for the, purpofe
" of inveftigating truth ; and at firft every
*^ one of you, confident in his own infalli-
*' bility, demanded an impHcit faith : pre-
" fently, however, you felt the contrariety
** of your opinions, and confented to fubmit
" them to a fair comparifon and a common
" rule of evidence. You proceeded to ex-
** pofe your proofs : you began with the
<* allegation of fads; but it prefently ap-
*' peared that every religion and every fed
*' had its miracles and its martyrs, and had
*' an equal cloud of witneffes to boaft, who
" were ready to prove the reditude of their
*^ fentiments by the facrifice of their lives,
^' Upon this firft point therefore the balance
** remained equal.
♦* You next paiTed to proofs of reafoning :
'' the
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 21^
" the fame arguments were alternatdy ap-
*' plied to the fupport of oppofite propofi -
** tions ; the fame alTertions, equally gratui-
" tous were fucceffively advanced and re-
" pelled ; every one was found to have an
*' equal reafon for denying his affent to the
'' fyflem of the others, A farther confe-
" quence that arofe from thus confronting
" your fyftems was, that, notwithftanding
** their diflimilitude in fome points, their
^^ refemblance in others was not lefs ftrik-
" ing. Each of you claimed the firft de-
^' poiit and the original difcovery ; each of
^^ you taxed his neighbour with adulteration
** and plagiarifm; and a previous queftion
** to the embracing of any of your dodrines
*' appeared to refult from the hiftory of opi-
" nions.
** A ftill greater embarrafTment arofe
*^ when you entered into the explication of
^* your dodtrines : the more affiduous were
*^ your endeavours, the more confufed did
" they appear ; they refted upon a bafis in-
*' acceffible to human underflanding, of
^•' confequence you had no means to judge
^-^ of their validity, and you readily admitted
P 4^ ^' that,
2l6 A SURVEY OF THE
*' that. In afferting them, you were the echos
** of your fathers. Hence it became impor-.
*• tant to know how they had come into the
*' hands of that former generation, who had
*' no means of learning them dijBferent from
" yourfelves. Thus the tranfmiffion of theo-
*' logical ideas from country to country, and
" their firfl rife in' the human underflanding,
*' were equally myfiierious, and the queflion
" became every moment more complicated
*' withmetaphyfical fubtlety and antiquarian
"'^ refearch.
** But as thefe opinions, however extra-
** ordinary, have fome origin ; as all ideas,
'^ even the moft abflradled and fantaftical,
*' have in nature fome phyfical model, we
*^ mufl afcend to that origin in order to dif-
** cover what this model is, and how the
" underftanding came by thofe ideas of
'* Deity, the foul and immaterial beings,
" that are fo obfcure, and which form the
*^ foundation of fo many religious fyftems j
" we muil: trace their lineal defcent and the
*' alterations they have undergone in their
" various fucceilions and ramifications. If
" therefore there are in this affembly men
** who
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. IIJ
^« who have mads thefe objeds their pecu-
*' liar fludy, let them come forward and en-
" deavour to difpel, in the prefence of the
" nations of the earth, the obfcurity of opi-
« riions in which for fo long a period they
^^ have all wandered/*
CHAP,
510 A SURVEY OF THE
CHAP. XXII.
ORIGIN AND GENEALOGY OF RELIGIOaS
''""' ' IDEAS.
A T thefe words a new groupc, formed in
an inftant of individuals from every ilandard,
but undiiLinguiilied by any, advanced in the
fand, and one of the members, fpeaking in
the name of the general body, faid :
^* Legiflators, friends of evidence and of
truth !
" That the fubjetfl of which we treat
fhould be involved in fo many clouds, is by
no means aftonifhing, fince, befide the diffi-
culties that are peculiar to it, thought itfelf
has, till this moment, ever had {hackles im-
pofed upon it^, and free enquiry, by the in-
tolerance of every religious fyflem, been
interdided. But now that thought is un-.
reflrained, and may develope all its powers,
we will expofe in the face of day, and fub-
mit to the common judgment of affembled
nations, fuch rational truths as unprejudiced
piinds
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 219
minds have by long and lab }nous iludy dif-
covered ; and this, not Vvdth the defign of
impoiing them as a creed, but fi'om a de(ire
of provoking new lights, and obtaining bet-,
ter information.
** Chiefs and inflruclors of the people,
you are not ignorant of the profound obfcu-
rity in which the nature, origin, and hiftory
of the dogmas you teach are inveloped.
Impofed by force and authority, inculcated
by education, maintained by the influence
of example, they were perpetuated from age
to age, and habit and inattention ftrength-
ened their empire. But if m.an, enlight-
ened by experience and reflection, fummon
to the bar of mature examination the preju-
dices of his infancy, he prefently difcovers a
multitude of incongruities and contradid;ion.s
which awaken his fagacity, and call forth
the exertion of his reafoning powers.
" At firft, remarking the various and op-*
pofite creeds into which nations are divided,
we are led boldly to reject the infallibility
claimed by each ; and arming ourfelves aK
ternately with their reciprocal pretenfions, to
conceive that the fenfes and the underftand-
220 A SURVEY OF THE
ing emanating direftly from God, are a law
not lefs facred, and a guide not lefs fure than
the indired and contradidory codes of the
prophets.
*^ If we proceed to examine the texture
of the codes themfelves, we Ihall obferve
that their pretended divine laws, that is to
fay, laws immutable and eternal^ have rifeu
from the complexion of times, of places,
and of perfons ^; that thefe codes iffue one
from another in a kind of a genealogical
order, mutually borrowing a common and
fimilar fund of ideas, which every inllitutor
modifies agreeably to his fancy.
'^ If v/e afcend to the fource of thofe ideas,
we fliall find that it is loll in the night of
time, in the infancy of nations, in the veiy
origin of the world, to Vvdiich they claim al-
liance 3 and there, immerfed in the obfcurity
of chaos, and the fabulous empire of tradi^.
tion, they are attended with fo many pro-
digies as to be feemingly inaccefiible to the
human underfiianding. But this prodigious
flate of things gives birth itfelf to a ray of
reafoning, that refolves the difficulty; for if
the mdracles held out in fyflems of religion
have
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIiIeS. 22f
have actually exifled; if, for inflance, meta-
morphofes, apparitions, and the converfations
of one or more Gods, recorded in the facred
books of the Hindoos, the Hebrews, and the
Parfes, are indeed events in real hiilory, it
follows that nature in thofe times was per-
fe6lly unlike the nature that we are acquaint-
ed with now ; that men of the prefent age
are totally different from the men that for-
merly exifled ; and, confequently, that we
ou.^ht not to trouble our heads about them.
*' On the contrary, if thofe miraculous
fa6ls-have had no real exiilence in the phy-
fical order of things, they muil: be regarded
folely as produdions of the human intelledl:
and the nature of man, at this day, capable
of making the moil fantaftic combinations,
explains the phenomicnon of thofe xnonfcers
in hiftory. The only difficulty is to afcer-
tain how and for what purpofe the imagina-
tion invented them. If we examine with
attention the fabje(5i-s that are exhibited by
them, if we analize the ideas v/hich they
combine and affbciate, and weigh with accu-
racy all their concomitant circumftances,
we fhall find a folution perfediv conform-
able
^22 A SITRVEY OF THE
able to the laws of nature. Thofe fabulous
flories have a figurative fenfe different from
their apparent one, they are founded on fim-
ple and phyncal facts t but thefe fafe, being
ill conceived and erroneoully reprefented,
have been disfigured and changed from their
original nature by accidental caufes depen-
dent on the human mind, by the confufion
of figns made ufe of 'm the reprefentatlon of
objsdts, by the equivocation of words, the
defeat of language, and the imperfedion of
%vricing. Thefe Gods, for example, who
adl fuch fmgalar parts in every fyftem, are
no other than the phyfical powers of nature,
the elements, the winds, the meteors, the
ftars, all which have been perfonified by the
neceffary mechanifm of language, and the
manner in which objecfts are conceived by
the under/landing. Their life, their man-
ners, their adlions, are only the operation of
the fame powers, and the v/hole of their
pretended hiflory no more than a defcription
of their various phenomena, traced by the
firfl: naturaiifl that obferved them, but taken
in a contrary fenfe by the vulgar who did
net underfland it, or by fucceeding genera-
8 tions
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 22^
tions who forgot it. In a word, all the
theological dogmas refpedting the origin of
the w^orld, the natufe of God, the revela-
tion of his laws, the manifeftation of his
perfon, are but recitals of aflronomical fa(fl:s,
figurative and emblematical narratives of
the motion and influence of the heavenly-
bodies. The very idea itfelf of the Divi-
nity, which is at prefent fo obfcure, ab^
ftrad:ed, and metaphyseal, was in its origin
merely a compofit of the powers of the ma-»
terial univerfe, confidered fometimes analy-
tically, as they appear in their agents and
their phenomena, and fometimes fyntheti-
cally, as forming one whole, and exhibiting
an harmonious relation in all its parts. Thus
the name God has been bePiowed fometimes
upon the wind, upon fire, water, and the
elements ; fometimes upon the fun, the
flars, the planets, and their influences p
fometimes upon the univerfe at large, and
the matter of which the world is compofed ;
fometimes upon abftrad: and metaphyfical
properties, fuch as fpace, duration, motion^
and intelligence ; but in every inilance, the
Idea of a deity has not flowed from the mi-
raculous revelation of an invifible world,
but
224 ^ SURVEY OF THE
but has been the natural refult of humarl
refle6ion, has followed the progrefs and tin-
dergone the changes of the fucceffive im-
provement of intelledl, and has had for its •
fubjed: the vifible univerfe and its different
agents.
** It is then in vain that nations refer the
origin of their religion to heavenly infpira-
tion ', it is in vain that they pretend to de-
fcribe a fupernatural ftate of things as firft
in the order of events : the original barba-
roLis flate of mankind, attefted by their ov/n
monuments (41), belies all their afiertions.
Thefe ailertions are ftili more vidtorioufly
refuted by confidering this great principle,
that mail receives nx) ideas but through the ine-
diu7n of his ftfifes (42) : for from hence it
aopears, that every fyftem which afcribes
human wifdom to any other fource than
experience and fenfatioUj includes in it a
vgspov TT^ojs^ov, and reprefents the lafl refults
of underftanding as earliefl in the order of
time. If we examine the different religious
fydems which have been formed refpeding
the adion of the Gods, and the origin of the
world, w^e fliall difcover at every turn an
anticipation in the order of narrating things,
Vv-hich
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 225
which could only be fuggefted by fubfe-
quent refledlion. Reafon, then, embolden-
ed by thele contradi(5lions, hefitates not to
rejedt whatever does not accord with the na-
ture of things, and accepts nothing for hifto-
rical truth that is not capable of being efta-
blifhed by argument and ratiocination. Its
ideas and fuggeftions are as follow :
*'Before any nation received from a neigh-
bour nation dogmas already invented; before
one generation inherited the ideas of another,
none of thefe complicated fyftems had exift-
ence. The firft men, the children of nature,
whofe confcioufnefs was anterior to expe-
rience, and who brought no preconceived
knov/ledge into the world with them, were
born without any idea of thofe articles of
faith which are the refult of learned con-
tention ; of thofe religious rites which had
relation to arts and practices not yet in exift-
ence; of thofe precepts which fuppofe the
paffions already developed ; of thofe laws
which have reference to a language and a
fecial order hereafter to be produced -, of
that God, whofe attributes are abftradions
of the knowledge of nature, and the idea of
Q^ whofe
226 A SURVfeY OF THE
whcfe condud: is fuggefted by the experience
of a defpotic govefnnient; in line, of that
ibul and thofe fpirltuai exlRences which are
faid not to be the objedl of the ferifes, but
which, however, we mufc for ever have re-
mained unacquainted with, if our fenfes
had not introduced them to us. Previouilv
to arriving at thefe notions, an imrnenfe ca-
talogue of exiting fadls mufl have been ob-
ferved. Man, originally favage, mufl have
learned from repeated trials the ufe of his
organs. Succeilive generations muft have
invented and refined upon the means of fub-
fillence; and the underftanding, at liberty to
difengage itfelf* frem the wants of nature,
niuil have rifen to the complicated art of
com.paring ideas, digesting reafonings, and
ieizing upon abilirad: limilitudes.
Sect. I. Origin of the idea of God: Worjloip
of the elements^ and the phyfical powers of
nature,
''It was not till after having furmounted
thofe obftacles, and run a long career in the
night of hiitory, riiat man, refledling on his
ftate, began to perceive his fjbjedion to
forces
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 227
forces fijperior to his own and independent
of his will. The fan gave him Hght and
warmth ; fire burned, thunder terrified, the
winds bulTetted, water overwhehiied him ;
all the various natural exigences adled upon
him in a manner not to be refifled. For a
long time, an automaton, he remained paf-
five, without enquiring into the caufe of
this adion ; but the very moment he was
deiirous of accounting to h'unfQl^ for it, aflo-
riifhment feized his mind; and pafiing from
the furprifc of a firll thought to the reverie
of curiofity, he formed a chain of reafon-
ing.
*' At firfl, confidering only the adlion of
the elements upon him, he inferred, relative-
ly to himfelf, an idea of v/eaknefs, of fub-
jedion, and relatively to them, an idea of
power, of domination ; and this idea was the
primitive and fundamental type of all his
conceptions of the Divinity.
** The adion of the natural exiftences, in
the fecond place, excited in him fenfations of
pleafare or pain, of good or evil ; by virtue
of his organization, he conceived love or
averfion for them, he defired or dreaded their
0^2 prefence ;
228 A SURVEY OF THE
prefence; and fear or hope was the principle
of every idea of religion.
*^ i\fter wards, judging every thing by
comparifcn. and remarking in thofe beings
a motion fpontaneous like his Own, he fup-
pofed there to be a v/ill, an intelligence in-
herent in that motion, of a nature fimilar to
what exiiled in himfelf ; and hence, by way
of inference, he ftarted a frefh argument. — -
Havingexperienced that certain modes of be-
haviour towards his fellow-creatures wrought
a change in their aifedtions and governed
their condud, he applied thofe practices to
the powerful beings of the univerfe. '' When
*' my fellow- creature of fuperior flrength,"
faid he to hin^felf, ** is difpofed to injure me,
** I humble myfelf before him, and my prayer
*^ has the art of appealing him. I will pray
** to the powerful beings that fcrike me. I
'* will ftipplicate the faculties of the winds,
'* the planets, the waters, and they will hear
^^ me. T will conjure thern to avert the ca-^
*' lamities, and to grant me the blefTings
** which are at their difpofal. My t'^'ars v/ill
" move^ my offerings propitiate thtm: and I
" fliall enjoy complete felicity.'*
§ ''And,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 229
*^ And, {imple in the infancy of his reafon,
man fpoke to the fun and the moon, he ani-
mated with his underftandingandhispaffions
the great agentsof nature; he thought hy vain
founds and ufelefs pradtices to change their
inflexible laws. Fatal error ! He defired that
the water fhould afcend, the mountains be
removed, the llone mount in theair; andfub*.
fl:ituting a fantaftic to a real world, he confti-
tutedforhimfelf beings of opinion, to the ter-
ror of his mind and the torment of his race,
** Thus the ideas of God and religion
fprung, like all others, from phyfical objeds,
and were in the underilanding of man the
produce of his fenfations, his wants, the cir-^
cumllances of his life, and the progreifi^^e
ftate of his knowledge »
" As thefe ideas had natural beings for
their firft models, it refulted from hence that
the Divinity was originally as various and
manifold as the fojms under which he feem-
ed to acft : each being was a Power, a Ge-
nius, and the firft men found the univerfe
crow^ded with innumerable Gods.
" In like manner the ideas of the Divi-
nity having had for motors the affedlions of
0.3 ^he
230 A SURVEY OF THE
the human heart, they underwent an order
of divifion calculated from the fenfations of
pain and pleafure, of love and hatred : the
powers of nature, the Gods, the Genii, wxre
clafTed into benign and maleficent, into good
and evil ones: and this conrtitutes the uni-
verfality of thefe two ideas in every fyileni
of religion.
" Thefe ideas, analogous to the condition
of their inventors, were for a long time
confufed and grofs. Wandering in Vv^oods,
befct with vi^ants, defcitute of reibiirces, men
in their favao-c ftate had no leilure to make
o
comparifons and drav/ concliuions. Suffer-
ing m.cre ills than they tafted enjoymients,
their moft h.ibitcjal fentim^ent was fear, their
theology terror, their worihip confined to
certain modes of falutation, of offerings
which they prefcntcd to beings whom they
fuppofed to be ferocious and greedy like
thcmfelves. In their frate of equality and
independence, no one took upon him the of-
fice of mediator v.-ith Gods as infubordinate
and poor as hinucif. No one having any fu-
perfiuity to difpofe of, there exifled no pa-
rafite under the name of prieft, nor tribute
under
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 271
under the name of vivflim, nor empire un-
der the name of altar ; their dogma and mo-
rality, jumbled together, were only felf-^pre-
fervation ^ and their religion, an arbitrary
idea without influence on the mutual re-
iatipns exifting between men, v/as but a
vain homage paid to the vifible powers of
nature.
*' Such v/as the firft and neceffary origin
of every idea of the Divinity."
The orator then addreffing the favage na-
tions, faid: " We appeal to you, who have
received no foreign fictitious ideas, whether
your conceptions have not been formed pre-
cifely in this manner ? We ailc you alfo,
learned theologians, if fuch be not the
unanimous record of all the monuments of
antiquity (43) ?
Sect. II. Second Jyjiem : Worfljtp of the
Stars, or Saheij?n,
" But thofe fame monuments offer us a
more methodical and more complicated fyf-
tem, that of the worfliip of all the flars,
adored at one time under their proper form,
at another under emblems and figurative
0^4 fymbols.
232 A SURVEY OF THE
fymbols. This worfhip was alfo the tffeCz
of the knowledge of man in phyfics, and de-
rived immediately from the firfl caufes cf
the focial flate -, that is to fay, from wants
and arts of the firfl degree, the elements as
it were in the formation of focietv.
'* When men began to.unite in fociety, they
found it neceffary to enlarge the means of
their fubfiftence, and confequently to apply
them,f:ilves to agriculture; and the pradtice
of agriculture required the obfervation and
knowledge of the heavens (44). It was
necefTary to knov^ the periodical return of
the fame operations of nature, the fame
phenomena of the fkies ; it v/as neceffary to
regulate the dui-ation and fucceffion of the
feafons, months and year. In order to this
it was requihte to become acquainted with
the march of the fun, which in its zodiacal
revolution fhowed itfelf the iiril: and fapreme
agent of all creation ; then of the moon,
which by its changes and returns regulated
and d^ftributed time; finally of the fiars, and
even of the planets, which, by their appear-
ance and difappearance on the horizon and
the nodurnalhemifphere, formed the minut-
' • ' ^ eft
REVOLUTIONS OF EIS^PIRES. 233
€ft divifions. In a word it was necelTary to
eflablifh an entire fyflem of aftronomy, to
form an almanac; and from this labour there
quickly and fpontaneoufly refulted a new
manner of coniidering the dominant and go-
verning powers. Having obferved that the
produdions of the earth bore a regular znd
conllant connection with the phenomena of
the heavens; that the birth, growth, and
decay of each plant, were allied to the ap-
pearance, exaltation and decline of the fame
planet, the fame groupe of ftars ; in jfhort,
that the langour or activity of vegetation
feemed to depend on celeftial influences, men
began to infer from this an idea of adlion, of
power, in thofe bodies, fuperior to terreftrial
beings ; and the flars difpenfing fcarcity or
abundance, became powers. Genii (45),
Gods, authors of good and evil.
*' As the itate of fociety had already intro-
duced a methodical hierarchy of ranks, em-
ployments and conditions, men, continuing
to reafon from comparifon, transferred their
new acquired notions to their theology, and
the refult was a complicated fyftem of gra-
dual Divinities, in which the fun, as the iirft
God;
234 ^ SURVEY OF THE
God, was a military chief, a poiitlcal king;
the moon, a queen, his confort; the planets,
iervants, bearers of commands, mefTcngers ":
and the multitude of iiars, a nation^, an army
of heroes, of Genii, appointed to govern the
world under the comm.and of their officers ;
every individual had a name, fundiions, attri-
butes, drav/n from its connedions and influ-
ences, and even a fex derived from the gen-
der of its appellation (46).
" As the i\MQ of fociety had introduced
certain ufages and complex practices, vvor-
Ihip, icading the van, adopted fimilar ones.
Ceremonies, limple and private at firfl, be-
came public and folemn ; offerings were more
rich and more num_erous; rites more metho-
dical; places of alTembly, chapels and temples
were ereded ; officers, pontiffs, created to
adminiiler; forms and epochas were fettled ;
and religion became a civil ad:, a political tie.
But in this developement it altered not its
firit principles, and the idea of God was ftill
that of phyfical beings, operating good or
ill, that is to fay, impreffmg fenfatlons of
pain or pleafare : the dogma was the know-
ledge of their laws or m.odes of ading; virtue
and
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 235
and fill the obfervance or infringement of
thofe laws; and morality, in its native iim-
plicity, a judicious pra6lice of all that is
conducive to the prefervation of exifcencep
to the welL being of the individual and of his
fellow- creatures (47).
" Should it be afkcd at what epoch this
fyfcem took birth, we fhall anfvver, fupported
by the authority of the monuments of agro-
nomy itfelf, that its principles can be traced
b.ick with certainty to a period of nearly
feventeen thoufand years (48). Should w^e
farther be afi^ed to what people or nation it
ought to be attributed, we ihall reply, that
thofe felf-farhe monuments, feconded by
unanimous tradition, attribute it to the iirft
tribes of Egypt. And when reafon finds in
that region a concurrence of all the phyfical
circumftances calculated to give rife to its
when it finds at once a zone of heaven, in
vicinity of the tropic, equally free from the
rains of the equator, and the fogs of the
north (49) ; when it finds there the central
point of the antique fphere ; a falubrious
climate -, an immenfe yet m^anageable river ^
a land fertile without art, without fatigue ;
inundated^
236 A SURVEY OF THE
inundated, without peililential exhalationG ^
iituate between two feas which lave the
ihores of the richeil countries- — it becomes
manifeft that the inhabitant of the dilTrids
of the Nile, inclined to agriculture from the
nature of his foil 5 to commerce, from the
facility of communication; to geometry, from
the annual neceiiity of meafuring his poffef-
lions i to aflronomy, from the Hate of his
heaven, ever open to obfervation, muil firil
have pafTed from the favage to the focial
ilate, and confequently attained that phyfical
and moral knowledge proper to civilized
man,
*' It was thus, upon the diftant ihores of
the Nile, and among a nation of fable com-
plexion, that the complex fy item of the wor~.
Ihip of the liars, as conne(fted with the pro^'
duceof thefcil and the labours of agriculture,
was conftrucled. The Vv-oriliip of the ftars
under their proper forms, or their natural at-
tributes, was a iimple procefs of the human
underftanding 3 but in a ihort time the mul-
tiplicity of objects, their relations, their
•adiion and re-acftion, having confounded the
ideas and the figns that reprefented them, a
confequence
RE\^OLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, ayj
tonfequeiice refultedas abfurd in its nature as
peraicious in its tendency,
Se c T . 1 1 L "Third SyJJem : IForJhip offymhots.
or idolatry,
" From the inftant this agricolar race
had turned an eye ofobfervation on the ftarSj
they found it neceffary to diftinguifli in-
dividuals or groupes, and to allign to each a
proper name. A confiderabk difficulty here
prefented itfelf 5 for on the one hand^ the
celeftial bodies, fimilar in form> offered no
pecuhar chara^^ter by which to denominate
them; and on the other hand, language^
poor and in a ftate of infancy, had no expref-»
fions for fo many new and metaphyfical ideas.
The ufual ilimulus of genius, neceffity, con-
quered all obilacles. Having remarked that
in the annual revolution, the renewal and
periodical appearance of the produdions of
the earth were conftantly connected with the
rifmg and fetting of certain ftars, and with
their polition relatively to the fun, the mind,
by a natural mechanifm, afibciated in its
thought terreflrial and celeftial objeds, which
had in fad a certain alliance ; and applying
to
238 A SURVEY OF THE
to them the fame lign, it gave to the liars
ctndthe groupes it formed of them, the very
names of the terreftrial objeds to which they
bore atjinity (50).
*' Thus the Ethiori-ian of Thebes called
fl: n rs of m uindation , or QiAquariuSy thofe under
^?vhAC^i the river began to overflovi^ * , flars
of the ox or bull, thofe under v/hich it v^as
convenient to plough ihe earth -, ftars of the
lion, thofe under which that animal, driven
by thirfc from the deferts, made his appear-
ance on the banks of the Nile ; ftars of t}i..z
fheaf, or of the harvefl: maid, thofe under
which the harvefls were got in ; flars of the
Limbs, iiars of the goat, thofe under which
thofe valuable animals brought forth their
young; and thus was a firft part of the diMi-
culty refolved,
" On the other hand, m^an, having remark-
ed in the beings that furrounded him certain
cualitics peculiar to each fpecies> and having
invented a name by which to deiig-n them,
fpeedily difcovcred an ingenious mode of ge-
neralizins; his ideas, and transferrin 2: the nam.e
* This mud have been June. See Note (46).
already
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 239-
already invented to every thing bearing a li-
milar or analogous property or agency, en-
riched his language with a multiplicity of
metaphors and tropes.
*' Thus the fame Ethiopian, having ob~
ferved that the return of the inundation an-
fwered conftantly to the appearance of a very
beautiful ftar towards the fource of the Nile,
which feemed to warn the hufbandman
againfl being furprifcd by the waters, he
compared this aclion with that of the animal
who by barking gives notice of danger, and
called this ilar the dog, the barker fSyrhtsJ.
In the fame manner he called ftars of the
crab, thofe which ihowed themfelves when
the finyhavinp- reached the bounds of the
tropic, returned backwards and fide ways like
the crab or Ca?2ceri ftars of the wild goat,
thofe which, the fun being arrived at its great-
eft altitude, at the top of the horary gnomon,
imitated the aclion of that animal who delights
in climbing the higheft rocks; ftars of the ba-
lance, thoie which, the days and nights being
of the fame length, feemed to obferve an equi-
librium like that inflrum.ent , ftars of the fcor-
pion, thofe which were perceptible when cer-
tain regular winds brought a burning vapour
like
240 A SURVEY OF THE
like the poifon of the fcorpion. In the fame
manner he called by the name of rings and
ferpents the figured traces of the orbits of the
flars and planets (51); and this was the ge-
neral means of appellation of all the hea-
venly bodies, taken in groupes or indivi-
dually, according to their connedtion with
rural and terreftrial operations, and the ana-
logies which every nation foUnd them to
bear to the labours of the field and the ob-=
jedls of their climate and foil.
*' From this proceeding it refulted, that
abjedl and terrellrial beings entered into afib-
elation with the fuperior and powerful beings
of the heavens ; and this aiTociation became
more rivetted every day by the very confti-
tution of laneuaofe and the mechanifm of tile
w o
mind. Men woul«i fay, by a natural meta-
phor: *^ The bull fpreads lipon the earth the
" germins of fecundity (in fpring) ; and
" brings back abundailce by the revival of
*' vegetation. The lamb (or ram) delivers
'' the heavens from the malevolent Genii of
'-' winter; and faves the world from the fer-
" pent (emblem of the wet feafon). The
'"' fcorpion pours out his venom upon the
" earth, and fpreads diieafes and death, &c."
•. - This
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 24I
** This language, underftood by every-
body, v/as at iirft attended with no incon-
venience J but, in procels of time, when the
almanac had been regulated, the people,
who could do without further obfervation of
the ikies, loft light of the motive which led
to the adoption of thefe expreffions ; and
the allegory ilill remaining in the practices
of life, became a fatal fbumbling-block to
the underftanding and reafon. Habituated
to join to fymbols the ideas of their models,
the mind finally confounded them ; then
thofe fame animals which the imagination
had raifed to heaven, defcended again oji
the earth ; but in this return, decked in the
livery and in veiled v/ith the attributes of the
ilars, they impofed upon their own authors.
The people, imagining that they faw their
Gods before them, found' it a more eafy taik
to offer up their prayers. They demanded
of the ram of their flock, the influence
which they expeded from the celeitial ram;
they prayed the fcorpion not to pour out his
venom upon Nature ; they revered the iiih
of the river, the crab of the fea, and the
fcarabeus of the ilime ; and by a feries of
R corrupt^
242 A SURVEY OF THE
corrupt, but infeparable analogies, they loft
themfelves in a labyrinth of confequent ab-
furdities.
" Such was the origin of this ancient and
Angular worfliip of animals ; fuch the train
of ideas by which the charader of the Di-
vinity became common to the meaneft of
the brute creation j and thus was formed
the vaft, complicated, and learned theolo-
gical fyftem which, from the banks of the
Nik, conveyed from country to country by
commerce,, war, and con qu eft, invaded all
the old world ; and which, modified by
times, by circumftances, and by prejudices^
is ftill to be found among a hundred nations,
and fubfills to this day as the fecret and in-
feparable bafis of the theology of thofe even
who defpife and rejed it."
At thefe words, murmurs being heard in
various groupes : *' I repeat it,'* continued
the orator. " People of Africa ! hence,,
for example, has arifen among you the ado-
ration of your Fetechesy plants, animals,
pebbles, bits of wood, before which your
anceflors would never have been fo abfurd
as to proftrate themfelves, if they had not
feea
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 243
feen in them talifmans, partaking of the
nature of the ftars (52). Nations of Tar-
tary ! this is equally the origin of your
Marmouzets, and of the whole train of ani-
mals with which your Chamans ornament
their magic robes. This is the origin of
thofe figures of birds and ferpents, which
all the favage nations, with myftic and fa-
cred ceremonies, imprint on their fkin. In-
dians ! it is in vain you cover yourfelves
with the veil of myllery : the hawk of your
God Vichenou is but one of the thoufand
emblems of the fun in Egypt, and his incar-
nations in a fifh, boar, lion, turtle, together
with all his monftrous adventures, are no-
thing more than the metamorphofes of the
fame ftar, which, paffing fucceilively through
the figns of the twelve animals *, was fup-
pofed to affume their forms, and to adl: their
aftronoraical parts (53). Japanefe ! your
bull which breaks the Q.gg of the world, is
merely that of the heavens, which, in times
of yore, opened the age of the creation, the
equinox of Spring. Rabbins, Jews ! that
fame bull is the Apis worihipped in Egypt,
* The Zodiac.
R 2 and
244 ^ SURVEY OF THE
and which your anceftors adored in the idol
of the golden calf. It is alfo your bull,
children of Zoroafter ! that, facrificed in
the fymbolic myfteries of Mithra, flied a
blood fertilizing to the world • Laftly, your
bull of the Apocalypfe, Chriilians ! with his
wings, the fymbol of the air, has no other
origin: your lamb of God, immolated, like
the bull of Mithra, for the falvation of the
world, is the felf-fame fun in the fign of the
eeleflial ram, which, in a fubfequent age^
opening the equinox in his turn, was deem-
ed to have rid the world of the reign of eviU
that is to fay, of the ferpent, of the large
fnake, the mother of winter and emblem of
the Ahrimanes or Satan of the Perfians,
your inftitutors. Yes, vainly does your im-
prudent zeal confign idolaters to the tor-
ments of the Tartarus which they have in-
vented : the whole bafis of your fyftem is
nothing more than the worfhip of the flar
of day, whofe attributes you have heaped
upon your chief perfonage. It is the fun
which, under the name of Orus, was born^
like your God, in the arms of the celeftial
virgin, and paffed through an obfcure, in-
digentj
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 245
digent, and deftitute childhood, anfwering
to the feafon of cold and frofl. It is the
fun, which, under the name of Ofiris, per-
fecuted by Typhon and the tyrants of the
air, was put to death, laid in a dark tornb,
the emblem of tlie hemifphere of winter,
and which, riiing afterwards from the infe-
rior zone to the highelt point of the hea-
vens, awoke triumphant over giants and the
deftroying angels. Ye priefts ! from whom
the murmurs proceed, you wear yourfelves
its figns all over your bodies.. Your tonfure
is the diik of the fun ; your Hole its Zodiac
(54); your rofaries the fymbols of the flars
and planets. Pontiffs and prelates ! your
mitre, your croiier, your mantle, are the
emblems of Ofiris ^ and that crucifix of
which you boafl: the myfl:ery, without com-
prehending it, is the crofs of Serapis, traced
by the hands of Egyptian priefts on the
plan of the figurative world, which, pafling
through the equinoxes and the tropics, be-
came the emblem of future life and refur-
redion, becaufe it touched the gates of ivory
and horn through which the foul was to
pafs in its way to heaven.'*
R 3 Here
246 A SURVEY OF THE
Here the dodors of the different groupes
looked with ajftoniihment at one another,
but none of them breaking filence, the
orator continued.
** Three principal caufes concurred to
produce this confufion of ideas. Firfl:, the
neceffity, on account of the infant ftate of
language, of making ufe of figurative ex-
preffions to depidt the relations of things ;
expreffions that, palling afterwards from a
proper to a general, from a phyfical to a
moral fenfe, occafioned, by their equivocal
and fynonymous terms, a multiplicity of
miftakes.
" Thus having at firft faid, that the fua
furmounted and palTed in its ccurfe through
the twelve animals, they afterwards fuppofed
that it combated, conquered, and killed them,
and from this was compofed the hiftorical
life of Hercules.
" Having faid that it regulated the period
of rural operations, of feed time and of har-
veil; that it dillributed the feafons, ran
through the climates, fwayed the earth, &c,
it was taken for a legiflative king, a con-
quering warrior, and hence they formed the
5 ilories
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 247
ftories of Ofiris, of Bacchus, and other fimi-
lar Gods.
** Having faid that a planet entered into
a fign, the conjundion was denominated a
marriage, adultery, inceft {^5): having far-
ther faid, that it was buried, becaufe it funk
below the horizon, returned to light and
gained its ftate of eminence, they gave it the
epithet of dead, rifen again, carried into
heaven. Sec,
*' The fecond caufe of confufion was
the material figures themfelves, by which
thoughts v/ere originally painted, and which,
under the name of hieroglyphics, or facred
characters, were the firft invention of the
mind. Thus to denote an inundation, and
the neceffity of preferving one's-felf from
it, they painted a boat, the veflel Argo ; to
exprefs the wind, they painted a bird's wing;
to fpecify the feafon, the month, they deli-
neated the bird of paiTage, infed:, or animal,
which made its appearance at that epoch ;
to exprefs winter they drew a hog, or a
ferpent, which are fond of moift and miry
places. The combination of thefe figures
had alfo a meaning, and was fubftituted for
R 4 words
24S A SURVEV OF THE
words and phrafes * (56). But as there was
nothing fixed or precife in this fort of lan-
guage, as the number of thofe figures and
their combinationG became exceffive and
burdenfome to the memory, confufions and
falfe interpretations were the firfl: and ob-
vious refult. Genius having afterwards in-
vented the more fimple art of applying figns
to founds, of which the number is limited,
and of painting the word inftead of the
thought, hieroglyphic pictures were, by
^means of alphabetical writing, brought into,
difufe ; and from day to day their forgotten
fignifications made way for a variety of il-
lufions, equivoques, and errors.
" Laftly, the civil organization of thefirft
flates was a third caufe of confufion. In-
deed, when the people began to apply them-
felves to agriculture, the formation of the
rural calendar requiring continual aftrono-
mical obfervations, it was neceifary to chufe
individuals whofe province it fhouid be to
watch the appearance and fe>tting of certain
ftars, to give notice of the return of the in-
undation, of particular winds and rains, and
* See the examples cited in note (45}.
.- .: . the
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 249
the proper time for fov/ing every fpecies of
grain. Thefe men, on account of their of-
fice, were exempted from the common oc-
cupations, and the fociety provided for their
fubfiflence. In this fituation, folely occu-
pied in making obfervations, they foon pene-
trated the great phenomena of nature, and
dived into the fecret of various of her ope-
rations. They became acquainted with the
courfe of the ftars and planets ; the connec-
tion which their abfence and return had with
the produdlions of the earth and the adivity
of vegetation : the medicinal or nutritive
properties of fruits and plants ; the atflion
of the elements,and their reciprocal affinities.
But, as there were no means of communi-
cating this knowledge otherwife than by the
painful and laborious one of oral inflrudlion,
they imparted it only to their friends and
kindred; and hence refulted a concentration
of fcience in certain families, who, on this
account affumed to themfelves exclufive pri-
vileges, and a fpirit of corporation and fepa-
rate diilindlion fatal to the public weal. By
this continued fucceffion of the fame labours
and enquiries, the progrefs of knowledge it
is true was haftened, but, by the myilery
that
■A-O A SURVEY OF THE
that accompanied it, the people, plunged
daily in the thickeil darkne fs, became more
fuperftitious and more flavifh. Seeing human
beings produce certain phenomena,announce,
as it were at will, eclipfes and comets, cure
difeafes, handle noxious ferpents, they fup-
pofed them to have intercoui-fe with celeftial
powers j and, to obtain the good or have the
ills averted which they expedled from thofe
powers, they adopted thefe extraordinary
human beings as mediators and interpreters.
And thus were eftabliflied in the very bofom
of ftates facrilegious corporations of hypo-
critical and deceitful men, who arrogated to
themfelves every kind of power; and priefls,
being at once aflronomers, divines, natura-
lifts, phyficians, necromancers, interpreters
of the Gods, oracles of the people, rivals of
kings or their accomplices, inflituted under
the name of religion an empire of myflery,
■which to this very hour has proved ruinous
to the nations of mankind,"
At thefe words the priefls of all the
groupes interrupted the orator -, with loud
cries, they accufed him of impiety, irreligion,
blafphemy, and were unwilling he fhould
proceed : but the legiflators having obferved,
that
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 25I
that what he related was merely a narrative
of hiftorical fads j that if thofe fadls were
falfe or forged, it would be an eafy matter
to refute them ; and that if every one were
not allowed the perfed: hberty to declare his
opinion, it would be impoflible to arrive at
truth — he thus went on with his difcourfe.
" From all thefe caufes, and the perpetual
affociation of diffimilar ideas, there followed
a flrange mafs of diforders in theology, mo-
rality, and tradition. And firft, becaufe the
ftars were reprefented by animals, the quali-
ties of the animals, their likings, their fym-
pathies, their averlions, were transferred to
the Gods and fuppofed to be their a(5tions.
Thus the God Ichneumon made war againfl
the God crocodile ; the God wolf wanted
to eat the God fheep ; the God ftork de-
voured the God ferpent j and the Deity be-
came a flrange, whimfical, ferocious being,
whofe idea mifled the judgment of man, and
corrupted both his morals and his reafon.
" Again, as every family, every nation, in
the fpirit of its worfliip adopted a particular
ftar or conftellation for its patron, the affec-
tions and antipathies of the emblematk:al •
brute
ftC2 A SU'RVEY OF THE
brute were transferred to the fedaries of this
worfliip ; and the partifans of the God dog
were enemies to thofe of the God wolf; the
worfliippers of the God bull, abhorred thofe
who fed upon beef, and religion became the
author of combats and animofities, the fenfe-
lefs caufe of frenzy and fuperftition (57).
" Farther, the names of the animal fbars
having, on account of this fame patronage,
been conferred on nations, countries, moun-
tains, and rivers, thofe objeds were alfo
taken for Gods ; and hence there arofe a
medley of geographical, hiftorical, and my-
thological beings, by which all tradition was
involved in confufion.
** In fine, from the analogy of their fup-
pofed adions the planetary gods having been
taken for men, heroes, and kings; kings and
heroes took in their turn the adions of the
Gods for models, and became, from imita-
tion, warlike, conquering, fanguinary, proud,
lafcivious, indolent ; and religion confecrat-
ed the crimes of defpots, and perverted the
principles of governments.
Sect,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 253
Sect. IV. Fourth fyjlem : Worjhip of two
principles, or Dualijm,
" Meanwhile the aftronomical priefts,
enjoying in their teniples peace and abun-
dance, made every day frefh progrefs in the
fciences ; and the fyilem of the world gra-
dually difplaying itfelf before their eyes, they
flarted fucceffively various hypothefes as to
its agents and effedis, which became fo many
iyUcms of theology.
" The navigators of the maritime nations,
and the caravans of the Afiatic and African
Nomades, having given them a knowledge
of the earth from the Fortunate Iflands to
Serica, and from the Baltic to the fources of
the Nile, they difcovered, by a comparifon
of the different Zones, the rotundity of the
globe, which gave rife to a new theory.
Obferving that all the operations of Nature,
during the annual period, were fummed up,
in two principal ones, that of producing and
that of deftroying; that upon the major part
of the globe, each of thefe operations was
equally accomplilLed from one to the other
equinox i that is to fay, that during the fix
months
2^^ A SURVEV OF TH£
months of fummer all was In a ftate of pro-*
creation and increafe, and during the fix
months of winter all in a ftate of languor
and nearly dead, they fuppofed nature to con-
tain two contrary powers always ftruggling
with and refilling each other; and confider-
ing in the fame light the celeilial fphere,
they divided the pidiures, by which they re-
prefented it into two halves or hemifpheres,
fo that thofe conftellations which appeared
in the fummer heaven formed a dired: and
fuperior empire, and thofe in the winter
heaven an oppoiite and inferior one. Now
as the fum.mer conftellations were accompa-*
nied with the feafon of long, warm, and un-
clouded days, together with that of fruits
and harveils, they were deemed to be the
powers of light, fecundity, and creation i
and by tranfition from a phyiical to a moral
lenfe, to be Genii, angels of fcience, bene-
ficence, purity, virtue : in like mjanner the
winter conftellations, being attended with
long nights and the polar fogs, were regard-
ed as genii of darknefs, deftru6tion, death,
and, by fimilar tranfition, as angels of wick-
ednefs, ignorance, fm, vice. By this difpo-
. fal,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 255
fal, heaven w^as divided into two domains,
two fadtions ; and the analogy of human
ideas opened already a vaft career to the
flights of imagination ; but a particular
circumflance determined, if it did not oc-
cafion the miftake and illufion. (Confult
Plate II. at the end of the volume.)
" In the projection of the celeftial fphere
drawn by agronomical priefts (58), the Zo-
diac and the confiellations difpofed in a cir-
cular order, prefented their halves in dia-
metrical oppofition; the winter hemifphere
was adverfe, contrary, oppoiite to, being the
Antipodes of, that of fummer. By the con-
tinued m^etaphor thefe words were converted
into a moral fenfc, and the adverfe angels
and Genii became rebels and enemies {59).
From that period the whole aftronomical
hiflory of the confiellations was turned into
a political hiftory; the heavens became a
human ftate, where every thing happened
as it does on earth. Now as the exifting
flates, for the moffc part defpotic, had their
monarchs, and as the fun was the apparent
fovereign of the Ikies, the fummer hemi-
fphere (empire of light), and its condella-
tions (a nation of white angels), hid for
king
t^6 A SURVEY OF THE
ting an enlightened, intelligent, creative^
benign God; and as every rebellious faction
xnufl have its chief, the hemifphere of v/in-
ter (the fubterraneous empire of darknefs
- and woe), together v/ith its ftars (a nation of
black angels, giants, or demons), had for
leader a malignant Genius, whofe part was
affigned, by the different people of the earth,
to that flar which appeared to them the
,. mofh remarkable. In Egypt it was origi-
ginally the Scorpion, the firft fign of the
Zodiac after the Balance, and the hoary chief
of the wintry ligns: then it was the bear or
the polar afs, called Typhon, that is to fay,
deluge (60), on account of the rains which
poured down upon the earth during the do-
minion of that flar. In Perfia, at a fubfe-
quent period (6 i ), it was the ferpent, which,
^ under the name of Ahrlmanes, formed the
bafis of the fyflem of Zoroaller ; and it is
the fame, Chrifiians and Jews, that is become
your ferpent of Eve (the celeflial origin),
and that of the crofs ; in both cafes the em-
blem of Satan, the great adverfary of the
, Ancient of Days, fung by Daniel. In Syria
it was the hog or wild boar, enemy of i\do-
nis, becaufe in that country the office of the
-Northern
kEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 257
Northern bear was made to devolve upon the
animal whofe fondnefs for mire and dirt is
emblematical of winter. And it is for this
reafon that you, children of Mofes and of
Mahomet, hold this animal in abhorrence, in
imitation of the priefts of Memphis and Bal-
hec, who detefted him as the murderer of
their God the fun. This is likewife, O In-
dians! the type of your Chib-en, which was
once the Pluto of your brethren the Greeks
and Romans ; your Brama alfo (God the cre-
ator), is only the Perfian Ormuzd, and the
Ofiris of Egypt, whofe very name expreffes
a creative power, producer of forms. And
thefe Gods were wor (hipped in a manner
analogous to their real or fiditious attributes ^
and this worfhip, on account of the difference
of its objeds, was divided into two diftind:
branches. In One, the benign God received
a worfliip of joy and love; v/hence are de-
rived all religious a(fl;s of a gay nature (62),
feftivals, dances, banquets, offerings of
flowers, milk, honey, perfumes ; in a word,
of every thing that delights the fenfes and
tht foul. Jn the other, the malign God, on
the contrary, received a worfhip of fear and
S pain;
2^8 A SURVEY 0? TH^
pain ', whence originated all religious z€ts oi
the fombre kind (63), tears, grief, moiirn-
ing, felf-denial, blood- offerings, and crilel
facrifiees.
'' From the fame fource flowed the divi-
fion of terreftrial beings into pure and im-
pure, facred or abominable, aceordmg as
their fpecies was found among the refpedive
conflellations of the two Gods,- and made a
.part of their domain?^ This produeed^on one
hand, the fuperflitions of pollution and puri-
fication; and on the^ other, the pretended effi-
cacious virtues of amulets and talifmafis.
** You now underfland/' continued the ora-
tor, addrcfiing himfelf to the Indians^ Perfi-
ans, Jews, Chrifti^ns and MulTulmans, '^yon
now underiland the origin of thofe ideas of
combats and rebellion^ which equally per-
vade your refpecffcive mythology. You per-
ceive what is meant by white and black an-
gels; by the cherubs and feraphs with heads
of an eagle, a lion or a bull; the Deus> de-
vils or demons v/ith horns of goats and tails
of fnakes; the thrones and dominions, ranged
in {even orders or gradations, like the feven
fpheres of the planets ; all of them beings
a^inp
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES* 2^9
afiing the fame parts, partaking of the fame
attributes in the Vedas, the Bibles, or the
Zendavefta; whether their chief be Ormuzd
or Erama, Typhon or Chib-en, Michael or
Satan; whether their form be that of giants
with a hundred arms and fe-et of ferpents,
or that of Gods metamorphofed into lions,
ftorks, bulls and cats, as they appear in the
facred tales of the Greeks and Egyptians :
you perceive the fucceffive genealogy of
thefe ideas, and how in proportion to their
remotenefs from their fources, and as the
mind of man became reiined, their grofs
forms were purified, and reduced to a ftate
lefs fhocking and repulfive*
*' But, juft as the fyftem of two oppoftte
principles or deities originated in that of
fymbols 5 in the fame manner you will find
a nfew fyftem fpring out of this, to which
it ferved in its turn as a foundation and
fupport.'*
5ect. V. Myjiical or 7noral worjhlpy or the
fyjiem of a future Jiate.
" In reality, when the vulgar heard talk
«f a new heaven and another world, they foou
S 2 ^ gave
26o A SURVEY of THE
gave a body to thefe fidlions; they eredled en
it a folid ftage and real fcenes -, and their
notions of geography and aftronomy ferved
to flrengthen, if they did not give rife to
the allufion.
" On the one hand^ the Phenlcian naviga-
tors, thofe who palled the pillars of Hercules
to fetch the pewter of Thule and the amber
of the Baltic, related that at the extremity
of the world, the boundaries of the ocean
(the Mediterranean), where the fun fets to
the countries of Afia, there wxre fortunate
Iflands, the abode of an everlafting fpring ;
and at a farther diflaneq, hyperborean re-
gions, placed under the earth (relatively to the
tropics), where reigned an eternal night ^.
From thefe ftories, badly underilood, and no
doubt confufedly related, the imagination of
the people compofed theElyfian Fields (64),
delightfal fports in a world below, having
their heaven, their fun and their ilars ; and
Tartarus, a place of darknefs, humidity,; mire,
and chilling froil. Now, inafmuch as man-
kind, incj^uilitive about all that of which they
-* Nights of fiX mo.'iths duration.
are
REVOL^UTIONS OF EMPIRES. 261
tare ignorant, and defirous of a protra6led ex-
iftence, had already exerted their faculties
refpedling what was to become of them after
death ; inafmuch as they had early reafoned
upon that principle of life which animates the
body, and which quits it without changing
the form of the body, and had conceived to
themfelves airy fubflances, phantoms and
fliades, they loved to believe that they fhould
refume in the fubterranean world that life
which it was fo painful to lofe ; and this
abode appeared commodious for the recep-
tion of thofe beloved objedls which they
could not prevail on themfelves to renounce.
" On the other hand, the aflrological and
philofophic^l prieils told fuch ftories of their
heavens as perfectly quadrated with thefe
fidions. Having, in their metaphorical lan-
guage, denominated the equinoxes and fol-
ftices the gates of heaven, or the entrance of
the feafons, they explained the terreftrial
phenomena by faying, that through the gate
of horn (firft the bull, afterwards the ram),
vivifying fires defcended, which, in fpring,
gave life to vegetation , and aquatic Spirits,
which caufed, at the folftice, the overflowing
S 3 of
262 A SURVEY OF THE
of the Nile : that through the gate of ivory
(originally the Bowman, or Sagittarius, then
the Balance') and through that of Capricorn,
or the urn, the emanations or influences of
the heavens returned to their fource and re-
afcended to their origin; and the milky Way
which paffed through the doors of the fol-
ftices, feemed to them to have been placed
there on purpofe to be their road and ve-
hicle {6^), The celeftial fcene farther pre-
fented, according to their Atlas, a river (the
Nile, defignated by the windings of the
Hydra) -, together with a barge (the veflel
Argo), and the dog Sirius, both bearing re-
lation to that river of which they forboded
the overflowing. Thefe circumftances ad-
ded to the preceding ones, increafed the pro-
bability of the fiidlion -, and thus, to arrive
at Tartarus or Elyfium, fouls were obliged
to crofs the rivers Styx and Acheron, in the
boat of Cbaron the ferryman, and to pafs
through the doors of horn and ivory,
which were guarded by the maftifl:' Cerbe-
rus. At length a civil ufage was joined
to all thefe inventions, and gave them con-
fjpiency.
•^ ^ '' Th€
I^EVOLUTIONS OF EMPJRES. 263
*^ The inhabitants of Egypt having re-
marked th^t the putrefadion of dead bodies
became in their burning climate the fource
of peftilence and difeafes, tlie cuflom was
introduced in a great number of flates, of
burying the dead at a dillance from the
inhabited diftridts, in the defert which lies
at the Weft. To arrive there it was necef-
fary to crofs the canals of the river in a boat,
and to pay a toll to the ferryman, otherwife
the body, remaining unburied, would have
been left a prey to wild hearts. This cuftom
fuggefted to her civil and religious legilla-
tors, a powerful means of affecting the man-
ners of her inhabitants ; and addreffing fa-
vage and uncultivated men with the motives
of filial piety and reverence for the dead,
they introduced, as a neceflary condition,
the undergoing that previous trial which
ihould decide whether the deceafed deferv-
ed to be admitted upon the footing of his fa-
mily honours into the black city. Such an
idea too well accorded with the reft of the
bulinefs not to be incorporated with it : it
accordingly entered for an article into reli-
gious creeds, and hell had its Minos and its
S 4 Radaman*
264 ^ SURVEY OF THE
Radamanthus, with the wand, the chair, the
guards and the urn, after the exa<*l model of
this civil tranfadion. The Divinity then,
for the firfl time, became a fubjed: of moral
and political confideration, a legiflator, by
fo much the more formidable as, while his
judgment was final and his decrees without
appeal, he was unapproachable to his fub-
jeds. This mythologies.! and fabulous cre-
ation, compofed as it was of fcattered and
difcordant parts, then became a fource of
future punifhments and rewards, in which
divine jufiice was fuppofed to corred: the
vices and errors of this traniitory fbate. A
fpiritual and myftica! fyftem, fuch as I have
mentioned, acquired fo much the more cre-
dit as it applied itfelf to the mind by every
argument fuited to it. The oppreiTed looked
thither for an indem.nincation; and enter-
tained the confoling hope of vengeance ; the
oppreflcr expedled by tbe coftHnefs of his
offerings to fecure to hlmfelf impunity, and
iit the fam.e time employed this principle to
infpire the vulgar with timidity : kings and
priefts, the heads of the people, faw in it
a new fource of po\ver, as they referved to
thcmfelves
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 3t6j
themfelves the privilege of awarding the
favours or the cenfure of the great judge of
all, according to the opinion they fhould in-
culcate of the odioufnefs of crimes and the
meritorioufnefs of virtue.
" Thus, then, an invifible and Imaginary
world entered into competition with that
which was real. Such, O Perfians, was the
origin of your renovated earth, your city of
refurredlion, placed under the equator, and
diftingui filed from all other cities by this
fingular attribute, that the bodies of its in-
habitants caft no ihiade (66). Such, O Jews
and Chriftians, difciples of the Perfians, was
the fource of your new Jerufalem, your para-
dife and your heaven, modelled upon the
aftrological heaven of Hermes. Meanwhile,
your hell, O ye Muifulmans, a fubterraneous
pit furmounted by a bridge, your balance of
fouls and good works, your judgment pro-
nounced by the angels Monkir and Nekir,
derives its attributes from the myflerious
ceremonies of the cave of Mithra (67) ; and
your heaven is exadlly coincident with that
of Ofiris, Ormudz and Brama.''
Sect«
266 A SURVEY OF TKS
Sect. VI. Sixth Eyjiem : ^he animated
world, or ivorjloip of the univerfe wider
different emblems,
" WHILE the nations were lofing them-
felves in the dark labyrinth of mythology
and fables, the phyfiologlcal priefts, purfuing
their ftudies and enquiries about the order
and difpofition of the univerfe, came to frefh
refults, and fet up freih fyftems of powers
and moving caufes.
" Long confined to (imple appearances,
they had only iztn in the motion of theflars
an unknown play of luminous bodies, which
they fuppofed to roll round the earth, the
central point of all the fpheres ; but from
the moment they had difcovered the rotun-
dity of our planet, the confequences of this
firfl: fad led them to other confiderations,
and from inference to inference they rofe to
the higheit conceptions of aftronomy and
phyfics.
" In truth, having conceived the enlight-
ened and fimple idea, that the celeil:ial globe
is a fmall circle infcribed in the greater circle
of the heavens, the theory of tlie concentral
circles
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 267
circles naturally prefented itfelf to their hy-
pothefis, to refolve the unknown circle of the
terreilrial globe by known points of the ce-
leftial circle ; and the m^afure of one or fe-
veral degrees of the meridian, gave precifely
the total circumference. Then taking for
compafs the diameter of the earth, a fortu-
nate genius defcribed with aufpicious bold-
nefs the immenfe orbits of the heavens; and,
by an unheard of abftradion, man, who
fcarcely peoples the grain of fand of which
he is the inhabitant, embraced the infinite
diftances of the ilars, and launched himfelf
into the abyfs of fpace and duration* There a
new order of the univerfe prefented itfelf, of
which the petty globe that he inhabited no
longer appeared to him to be the center: this
important part was transferred to the enor-
mous mafs of the fun, which became the in-
flamed pivot of eight circumjacent fpheres,
the movements of which were henceforward
fubmitted to exadl calculation.
* * Th e human mind had a] ready done a great
deal, by undertaking to refolve the difpofitioa
andf order of the great beings of nature ; but
jiot contented with this firil effort, it wifhed
?iiro
"268 A SURVEY OF THE
alio to refolve its mechanlfm, and difcover it^
origin and motive principle. And here it is
that, involved in the abflradl and metaphy-
fical depths of motion and its iirft caufe, of
the inherent or communicated properties of
matter, together with its fucceffive forms and
extent, or, in other words, of boundlefs fpace
and time, thefe phyfiological divines loft
themfelves in a cliaos of lubtle argument
and fcholaflic controverly.
*' The adtion of the fun upon terreftrial
bodies, having iirfi: led them to conlider its
fubfliance as pure and elementary fire, they
made it the focus and refervoir of an ocean
of igneous and luminous fluid, v/hich, under
the name of ether, nlled the univerfe, and
nourished the beings contained therein. They
afterwaras aifcovered, by the analyiis of a
more accurate philofophy, this fire, or a fire
fimilar to it, entering into the compofition
of all bodies, and perceived that it was the
grand agent in that fpontaneous motion,
which in animals is denominated life, and
in plants vegetation. From hence they were
led to conceive of the mechanifm and zCtion
of the univerfcjas cf a homogeneous whole,
a fingle
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 269
a fingle body, whofe parts, however diftant
in place, had a reciprocal connexion v/ith
each other (69) ; and of the vt^orld as a living
fubftance, animated by the organical circu-
lation of an ingneous or rather electrical
fluid (70), which, by an analogy borrowed
from men and animals, was fappofed to have
the fun for its heart (71).
*' Meanwhile, among the theological phi-
lofophers,one fecfl beginning from thefe prin-
ciples, the refult of experiment, faid : That
nothing was annihilated in the world; that
the elements were unperiiliable ; that they
changed their combinations, but not their
nature ; that the life and death of beings
were nothing more than the varied modifi-
cations of the fame atoms ; that matter con-
tained in itfelf properties, which were the
caufe of all its modes of exifting; that the
world was eternal (72), having no bounds
either of fpace or duration. Others faid :
That the whole univerfe was God ; and, ac-
cording to them, God was at once effect and
caufe, agent and patient, moving principle
and thing moved, having for laws the inva-
riable properties which conftitute fatality ;
tj6 A SURVEY OF THE
and they defignated their idea fometlmesby
the emblem of Pan (the great all) j of
of Jupiter, with a ftarry front, a planetary-
body, and feet of animals ; or by the fymbol
of the Orphic tgg *, whofe yolk fufpended
in the middle of a liquid encompailed by a
vault, reprefented the globe of the fun
fwimming in ether in the middle of the vault
of heaven (73), or by the emblem of a large
round ferpent, figurative of the heavens^
where they placed the firft princicle of mo-
tion, and for that reafon of an azure colour,
ftudded with gold fpots (the ftars), and de-
vouring his tail, that is, re-entering into him-
felf, by winding continually like the revolu-
tions of the fpheres ; or by the em.blem of ^
man, Vv'ithhis feet preffed and tied together to
denote immutable exiflence, covered with a
mantle of all colours, like the appearance of
nature, and wearing on his head a fphere of
gold (74), figurative of the fphere of the pla-
nets; or by that of another man fometimes
featedupon the flower of Li?/^^, borne uponthe
abyfs of the waters, at others reclined upon
* Vide CEdip. ^gypt. torn. II. p. 205.
a pile
REVOLtJtIONS OF EMPIRES. Ijt
a pile of twelve culliions, lignifying the tv>'elve
celeflial figns. And this, O nations of India:>
Japan, Siam, Thibet, and China, is the theo-
logy, which, invented by the Egyptians, haSj^
been tranfmitted down and preferved among
yourfelves, in the pidlures you give of Brama,
Beddou, Sommanacodom, and Omito. This,
G ye Jews and Chriilians, is the counterpart
of an opinion, of which you have retained a
certain portion, when you defcribe God as the
breath of life moving upon the face of the wa^
tersy alluding to the wind (75), which at the
origin of the world, that is, at the departure
of the fpheres from the fign of the Crab, an-
nounced the overflowing of the Nile, and
feemed to be the preliminary of creation."
-Sect. VII. Seventh Syfiem: WorpAp of the
Soul of the World, that />, the element
of fire y the vital principle of the univerfe.
« BUT a third fet of the theological phi-
lofophers, difgufted with the idea of a being
at once effed: and caufe, agent and patient,
and uniting in one and the fame nature all
contrary attributes, diftinguifhed the moving
principle from the thing moved; and laying
7 it
2^3 A SURVEY OF THE
It down as a datum that matter was In itfelf
inert, they pretended that it received its pro-
perties from a diilinfl agent of which it was
only the envelope or cafe. Some made this
agent the igneous principle, the acknow-
ledged author of all motion^ others made it
the fluid called ether, becaufe it was thought
to be more adive and fubtile : now, as they
denominated the vital and motive principle
in animals, a foul, a fpirit; and as they al-
ways reafoned by comparifon, and particu-
larly by comparifon v/ith human exiflencCj
they gave to the motive principle of the
whole univerfethe name of foul, intelligence,
fpirit; and God was the vital fpirit, which,
diffufed through all beings, animated the vaft
body of the v/orld. This idea was repre-
fented fometimes by You-piter, eifence of
motion and animation, principle of exiftence,
or rather exiftence itfelf (76) ; at other times
by Vulcan, or Phthay elementary principle of
fire, or by the altar of Vefta, placed cen-
trally in her temple, like the fun in the
fpheres -, and again by Knephy a human being
dreffed in deep blue, holding in his hands a
fceptre and a girdle (the Zodiac), wearing on
his
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRESc ^73
liis head a cap with feathers, to exprefs the
fugacity of thought, and producing from hil
mouth the great egg (77).
** As a confcqucnce from this fyftem, every
being containing in itfelf a portion of the
igneous or etherial fluid, the univerfal and
common mover, and that fluid, foul of the
world, being the Deity, it followed that the
fouls of all beings were a part of God him-
felf, partaking of all his attributes, that is,
being an indivifible, Ample, and immortal
fubfl:ance ; and hence is derived the whole
fyflem of the immortality of the foul, which
at^firft was eternity (78). Hence alfo its
tranfmigrations known by the name of me-
tem.pfychofis,thatis tofay,paflage of the vital
principle from one body to another; an idea
which fprung from the real tranfmigration
of the material elements. Such, O Indians,
Budfoifl:s, Chriflians, Mufliilmans, was the
origin of all your ideas of the fpirituality of
the foul ! Such was the fource of the reve-
ries of Pythagoras and Plato, your inflitutors,
and who were themfelves but the echoes of
another, the lafl: fed; of vifionaryphilofophers
that it is necelTary to examine*
~ T Sect,
274 ^ SURVEY OF THE
Sect. VIII. Eighth fyjiem: I' he world a ma'^
chine : ivorjJnp of the- Demi-ourgos, or
Jupre?ne artificer.
"Hitherto the theologians. In exer-
cifing their faculties on the detached and
fubtile fubllances of ether and the igneous
principle, had not however eeafed to treat
of exigences palpable and perceptible to
the fenfes, and their theology bad conti-
nued to be the theory of phyfical powers,
placed fometimes exclufively in the flars, and
fometimesdiileminated through the univerfe.
But at the period at which we are arrived*
fome fuperficial minds, lofing the chain of
ideas which had direded thefe profound en-
quiries, or ignorant of the fadts which ferved
as their bails, rendered abortive all the refults
that had been obtained from them, by the.
introdud:ion of a flrange and novel chimera.
They pretended that the univerfe, the hea-
vens, the liars, the fun, differed in no re-
fped from an ordinary machine ; and applying
to this hypotheiis a comparifon drawn from
the works of art, they ereded an edifice of
the moil whimfical fophifms. "A machine,"
ikid
itEvoxtrTiojvrs of empires^ 275
faid they, ** cannot form itfelf, there muH be
** a workman to conftrud: it ^ its very exift-
*' ence inipUes this. The world is a machines
*' it has therefore an artificer (79)/'
*' Hence the Demi-oiirgos, or fiipreme ar-
tificer, the autocrator and fovereign of the
univerfe. It was in vain that the ancient phi-.
lofophy objedled to the hypothefis, that this
artificer did not ftand in lefs need of parents
and an author, and that afcheme,which add-=-
cd only one Hnk to the chain by taking the
attributeof eternity from the world and giving
it to the creator, was of little value. Thefd
innovators, not contented with a firfi para-
dox, added a fecond, and applying to their ar-
tificer the theory of human underftanding^
pretended that the Demi-onrgos falhioned his
machine upon an archetype or idea extant in
his mind. In a v/ord, jufl as their mafi:ers,the
natural philofophers, had placed tht primiim
mobile in the fphere of the fixed ftars, under
the appellation of intelligence and reafon,
fo their apes, the fpiritualills, adopting the
fame principle, made it an attribute of the
Demi^ourgosy reprefenting this being as a dif-
tinft fubftance, Hecefifarily exifling, to which
T 2 they
U>.~* v,>
^y6 A SURVEY OF THE
they applied the terms of Mens or Logos ^ til
other words, under {landing and fpeech. Se-
parately from this being, they held the exig-
ence of a folar principle, or foul of the world,
which, taken wth the preceding, made three
gradations of divine perfonages ; firft, the
Demi-Gurgos, or fupreme artificer; fecondly^
the Logos, underilanding or fpeech : and
thirdly, tne fpirit or foul of the world (80).
And this, O Chriftians,is the fidion on which
you have founded your dodlrine of the Trini-
ty; this is the fyllem, which, born a Heretic
in the Egyp'ian temples, tranfmitted a Hea-
then to the fchools of Greece and Italy, is
now Catholic or Orthodox by the converfion
of its partifans, the difciples of Pythagoras
and Plato, to Chriftianity.
*' Thus the Deity, after having been origi-
nally conlidered as the fenfible and various
adlion of meteors and the elements ; then as
the combined power of the ftars, confidered
in their relation to terreftrial objeds ; then
as thofe terreflrial objeds themfelves, in con-
fequence of confounding fymbols with the
things they reprefented ; then as the com-
plex power of Nature, in her two principal
operations
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 277
operations of produdlion and deftrudlion ;
then as the animated world without diftinc-
tion of agent and patient, caufe and effedt ;
then as the folar principle or element of fire
acknowledged as the fole caufe of motion—
the Deity, I fay, ,confidered under all thefe
different views, became at laft a chimerical
and abftrad being ; a fcholaftic fubtlety of
fubftance without form, of body without
figure ; a true delirium of the mind beyond
the power of reafon at all to comprehend.
But in this its la ft transformation, it feeks in
vain to conceal itfelf from the fenfes : the
feal of its origin is indelibly ftamped upon it.
All its attributes, borrowed from the phyfical
attributes of the univerfe, as immenfity, eter-
nity, indivifibility, incomprehenfiblenefs ; or
from the moral qualities of man, as goodnefs,
juftice, majefty; and its very names (81),
derived from the phyfical beings which were
its types, particularly the fun, the planets,
and the world, prefent to us continually, in
fpite of thofe who would corrupt and dif-
guife it, infallible marks of its genuine na-
ture.
^ Such is the chain of ideas through which
T3 the
27? A SURVEY OF THE .
the human mind had already run at a period
anterior to the pofitive recitals of hiftoryi
and fmce their fyftematlc form proves them
to have been the refult of one fcene of fludy
.and inveftigation, every thing inclines us to
place the theatre of inveftigation, where its
primitive elements v^^ere generated, in Egypt>
There tliei.r progrefs was rapid^ becaufe the
^d.Ie curiofity of the theological philofophers
had, in the retirement of the temples, no
pther food than the enigma of the univerfe^
which was €ver prefent to their minds; and
becaufe, in the political diffentions v/hich
long difunited that country, each flate had
its coUege of priefts, who, being in turns
;iuxiliaries or rivals, haflened by their dif-
putes the progrefs of fcience and difcoyery
(82).
^' On the borders of the Nile there hap-
pened at that diftant period, what has iince
Jbeen repeated all over the globe. In pro-
portion as each fyftem was formed, it excited
by its novelty quarrels and fchifms : then,
gaining credit even by perfecution, it either
deftroyed anterior ideas, or incorporated it-
felf with and modified them. But political
inftit^tipi^'S
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 279
inftitutions taking place, all opinions, by the
aggregation of ilates and mixture of different
people, were at length confounded; and the
chain of ideas being lofl, theology, plunged
in a chaos, became a mere logogryph of old
traditions no longer underftood. Religion,
lofing its objed:, was now nothing more than
a political expedient by which to rule the
credulous vulgar 3 and was embraced either
by men credulous themfelves and the dupes
of their own vifions, or by bold and energe-
tic fpirits, who formed vail projeds of
ambition.'*
Sect. IX. Religion of Mofes, or worjhip of
the foul of the world (Tou-piter),
"Of this latter defcription was the He-
brew legiflator, who, defirous of feparating
his nation from every other, and of forming
a diftind; and excluiive empire, conceived
the defign of takingfor its balls religious pre-
judices, and of eredling round it a facred
rampart of rites and opinions. But in vain
did he profcribe the worfhip of fymbols, the
reigning religion, at that time, in Lower
jEgypt and Phenicia (83) : his God was not
T4 00
280 A SURVEY OF THE
on that account thelefs an Egyptian God, of
the invention of thofe priefts whofe difciple
Mofes had been; and Tahouh (84), deteded
by his very name, which means effence of
beings, and by his fymbol, the fiery bulli, is
nothing more than the foul of the world, the
principle of motion, v/hich Greece iliortly
after adopted under the fame denomination
in her Tou-pitery generative principle, and
under that of £/, exiilence (85); which the
Thebans confecrattd by the name c^ Kneph-^
which Sais worfliipped under the emolem of
I/is veiled, with this infcription, lam all thai
has been, all that is, and all that ivill be, and
no mortal has draiim ajide my veil-, which Py-
thagoras honoured under the appellation of
Vef.a,'^YiA which the Stoic philofophy defined
with precifion, by calling it the principle of
fire. In vain did Mofes wifh to blot from
his religion whatever could bring to remem-
brance the worlhip of the iiars; a multi-
plicity of traits in fpite of his exertions ftill
remained to point it out : the {q,v^\\ lamps
of the great candleflick, the twelve ftones
©r figns of the Urim of the high^prieft, the
feaft of the two e(juinoxes, each of whith a^
that
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 281
that eppcha formed a year^ the ceremony of
the lam.b cr celeilial ram, then at its fifteenth
degree ; laftly, the name of Ofiris even pre-
ferved in his fong (86)5 and the ark or coffer,
an imitation of the tomb in which that God
was inclofed ; all thefe remain to bear record
to the genealogy of his ideas, and their deri-
vation from the common fourc(
it
Sect. X. Religion of Zoroa/ier.
** Zoroaster was alfo g man of the
fame bold and energetic ilamp, who, five
centuries after Mofes, and in the time of
David, revived and moralized arnong the
Medes and Eacftrians the whole Egyptian
fyftem of Ofiris, under the names of Ormuzd
and Ahrimanes. He called the reign of
fummer, virtue and good 5 the reign of win-
ter, fin and evil ; the renovation of nature in
fpring, creation ; the revival of the fpheres
in the fecular periods of the conj undlion, re-
furredlion ; and his future life, hell, paradife,
were the Tartarus and Elyfium of the an-
cient aftrologers and geographers; in a worfl,
he only confecrated the already exifling re-
veries of the nayftic lyftem/'
Sect«
252 A SURVEY OF THE
Sect. XI. Budolfmy or religion of the
Samaneans.
In the fame rank muft be included the
promulgators of the fepulchral dodrlne of
the Samaneans, who, on the balls of the me-
tempiychoiis, raifed the mifanthropic fyflem
of feif-renunciation and denial, who, laying
it down as a principle, that the body is only
a prifon where the fool lives in impure con-
finement; that life is but a dream, an illu-
lion, and the world a place of paflage to an-
otlier country, to a life without end; placed
virtue and perfection in abfolute infenfibility,
in the abnegation of phyfical organs, in the
annihilation of all being: whence refulted the
fails, penances, macerations, folitude, con-
templations, and all the deplorable pra(ftices
cf the mad-headed Anchorets/'
Sect. XII. Braminijhy or the Indian Jyjiem.
" Finally, of the fame call were the
founders of the Indian fyftem, who, refining
.after Zoroafter upon the two principles of
creation and deftrudtion, introduced an inter-
mediate one, that of confervation, and upon
jheir trinity in unity, of Brama, Chiven, and
Bichenou,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 283
Bichenou, accumulated a multitude of tra-
ditional allegories, and the alembicated fub-
tleties of their metaphyfics."
*' Thefe are the materials which, fcatter-
cd through Afia, there exifled for many ages,
when, by a fortuitous courfe of events and
circumftances, new combinations of them
were introduced on the banks of the Euphra-
tes, and on the fhores of the Mediterranean*'*
Sect. XIIL Chriftianttyy or the allegorical
worjhip of the Sun, under the cabalijlical
names of Qn's.is-E'ii ^r Christ, ^W Yes-
us (?r Jesus.
"In conftitutinga feparate people, Mofes
had vainly imagined that he fbould guard
them irom the influence of every foreiga
idea : but an invincible inclination, founded
on affinity of origin, continually called back
:the Hebrews to the worfhip of the neigh-
bouring nations ; and the relations of com-
merce that neceflarilyfubfifted between them,
Itended every day to flrengthen the propenfity.
While the Mofaic inftitution maintained its
ground^ the coercion of government and the
Jaws^ wj^s a confiderable Qbfta(;:le to the inlet
254 A SURVEY OF THE
of innovations ; yet even t}ien the principal
places were full of idols, and God the fun
had his chariot and horfes painted in the
palaces of kings, and in the very temple of
Yahoah : but when the conquers of the
kings of Nineveh and Babylon had diffolved
thp bands of public power, the people left
to themfelves, and folicited by their conque-
rors, no longer kept a reflraint on their in-
clinations, and profane opinions were openly
profeiTcd in Judea, At firft the AfTyriaq
colonies, placed in the iituation of the old
tribes, filled the kingdom of Samaria with
the dogmas of |he Magi, which foon pene-
trated into Judea. Afterwards Jerufalem
having been fubjugated, the Egyptians, Sy-
rians and Arabs, entering this open country:^
introduced their tenets, and the religion of
Mofes thus underwent a fecond alteration.
In like manner the priefts and great men,
removing to Babylon, and educated in the
fcience of the Chaldeans, imbibed, during a
refidcnce of feventy years, every principle of
their theology, and from that moment the
dogmas of the evil Genius (Satan), of the
archangel Michael (87), of the Ancient of
Days
HEVOtU'tlONS OF EMt>lRES. ^85
Days (Ormu:^d>, of the rebellious angels, the
celeilial combats, the immortality of the foul,
and the refurredlon, dogmas unknown to
Mofes, or rejeded by him, fmce he obferves
a perfed: filence refpedting them, became
naturalized among the Jews.
*' On their return to their country, the
emigrants brought back with them thefe
ideas ', and at firft the innovations occafioned
difputes between their partifans, the Phari-*
fees, and the adherents to the ancient na-
tional worfhip, the Sadducees : but the for-
mer, feconded by the inclination of the peo-
ple, and the habits they had already con-
traded, and fupported by the authority of
the Perfians, their deliverers, finally gained
the afcendancy, and the theology of Zoro-
after was confecrated by the children of
Mofes (88).
*' A fortuitous analogy between two lead-
ing ideas, proved particularly favourable to
this coalition, and formed the bafis of a laft
fyftem, not lefs furpriling in its fortune than
in the caufes of its formation.
'' From the time that the Affyrians had
deflroyed the kingdom of Samaria, fome fa-
gacious
286 A SURVEY OF THE
gaciousfpirits forefaw, announced, and pre-
dicted the fame fate to Jerufalem : and all
their predictions were flamped by this parti-
cularity, that they always concluded with
prayers for a happy re-eftabhlhment andre-
'- eneration, which were in like manner fpoken
of in the way of prophefies. The enthufiafm
of the Hierophants had figured a royal de-
liverer, who was to re-eftablifh the nation in
its ancient glory : the Hebrews were again to
become a powerful and conquering people,
and Jerufalem the capital of an empire that
was to extend over the whole world.
" Events having realized the firfl: part of
thofe predidions, the ruin of Jerufalem, the
people clung to the fecond with a firmnefs
of belief proportioned to their misfortunes;
and the afflidled Jews waited with the im-
patience of want and of defire for that vidlo-
rious king and deliverer that was to come,
in order to fave the nation of Mofes, and re-
ftore the throne of David.
" The facred and mythological traditions
of precedent times had fpread over all Afia a.
tenet perfedtiy analogous. A great mediator,
a final judge, a future faviour, was fpoken of,
I who.
REVOLUTIONS OF El^PIRES. 287
who, as king, God, and vidlorious legiflator,
was to reftore the golden age upon earth (89),
to deliver the world from evil, and regain for
mankind the reign of good, the kingdom of
peace and happinefs. Thefe ideas and ex-
prefTions were in every mouth, and they con-
foled the people under that deplorable ftate
of real fuffering into which they had been
plunged by fucceffive conqueils and con-
querors, and the barbarous defpotifm of their
governments. This refemblance between
the oracles of different nations and the pre-
dictions of the prophets, excited the attention
of the Jews ; and the prophets had doubt-
lefs been careful to infufe into their pictures,
the fpirit and ftyle of the facred books em-
ployed in the Pagan myfteries. The arri-
val of a great ambaffador, of a final faviour,
was therefore the general expectation in Ju-
dea, when at length a Cngular circumftance
was made to determine the precife period
of his coming.
" It was recorded in the facred books of
the Perfians and the Chaldeans, that the
world, compofed of a total revolution of
twelve thoufand periods, was divided into
tWQ
288 A SURVEY OP THE
two partial revolutions, of which one, the
age and reign of good, was to terminate at
the expiration of fix thoufand, and the other,
the age arid feign of evil, at the expiration
of another fix thoufand.
** Their firft authors had meatnt by thefe
recitals, the annual revolut'on of the great
celeftialorb (a revolution compofed of twelve
months or figns each divided into a thoufand
parts), and the two fy Hematic periods of
winter and fummer, each confi fling equally
of fix thoufand. But thefe equivocal cxpref-
fions having been erroneouily explained j and
having received an abfolute and moral, in-
ftead of their aftrological and phyfical fenfe,
the refult was, that the annual was taken
for a fecular world, the thoufand periods for
a thoufand years ^ and judging, from the ap-
pearance of things, that the prefent was
the age of misfoi tune, they inferred that it
would terminate at the expiration of the fix
thoufand pretended years (90).
** Now, according to the Jewifli compu-
tation, fix thoufand years had already nearly
elapfed fmcc the fuppofed creation of the
world (91). This coincidence produced
confiderable
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 289
confiderable fermentation in the minds of
the people. Nothing was thought of but
the approaching termination. The Hiero-
phants were interrogated, and their facred
books examined. The great Mediator and
final Judge was expeded, and his advent de-
fired, that an end may be put to fo many
calamities. This was fo much the fubjecl
of converfation, that fome one was faid to
have feen him, and a rumour of this kind
was all that was wanting to eftablifh a ge-
neral certainty. The popular report be-
came a demonftrated fad; the imaginary
being was realized; and all the circum-
ftances of mythological tradition being in
fome manner conneded with this phantom,
the refult was an authentic and regular hif-
tory, which from henceforth it was blaf-
phemy to doubt.
** In this mythological hiftory the fol-
lowing traditions were recorded : " That,
in the beginnings a man aiid a wo?nan had^
by their falU brought fm and ml into the
\. <.* world'' (Examine plate II.)
" By this was denoted the aftronomical
fad of tlie celeflial Virgin, and the herdfman
i; {Bootes)
<(
200 A SURVEY OF THE
(Bootes) who, fetting heliacally at the au-
tumnal equinox, refigned the heavens to the
wintry conflellations, and feemed, in fink-
ing below the horizon, to introduce into
the world the genius of evil, Ahrimanes,
reprefented by the conflellation of the Ser-
pent (92.)
" T^hat the woman had decoyed and Jednced
*• the man (93)-"
" And in reality, the Virgin fetting firil,
appears to draw the Herdfinan (Bootes)
after her. ' - . ^ . ■
" That the ijooman had tempted him, by
" offering him fruit pleafant to the Jight and
" good for food, which ga^ce the knowledge of
** good and evil!'
" Manifeilly allnding to the Virgin, who
is depicted holding a bunch of fruit in her
hand, wdiich lliC appears to extend towards
the Herdfrnan : in like irjanner the branch,
emblem cf autumn, placed in the picture of
Mithra (94) on the front of winter and fum«
mer, feems to open the door, an.d to give the
knowledge, the key, of good and evil.
«' T^hat this couple had been driven from the
** cclejlial_ garden, arid that a cherub with a
■■ \ . ': '^ famifig,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 201
^^ jlamingfword had been placed at the door to
*' guard it J*
'' And when the Virgin and the Herdf-
man fink below the \¥e{lern horizon,
Perfeus rifes on the oppofite fide ((y5),
and fword in hand, this Genius may be
faid to drive them from the ilimmer hea-
ven, the garden and reign of fruits and
flowers.
'* That from this virgin irould be born,
'' would fpring up afjoot, a child, that Jhould
" crufo the jerpenfs heady a?id deliver the
" world from Jin,''
*' By this was denoted the Sun, which,
at the period of the fummer folftice, at the
precife moment that the Perfian Magi drew
the horofcope of the new year, found itfelf
in the bofom of the Virgin, and v/hich, on
this account, was reprefented in their aftro-
logical pidures in the form of an infant
fuckled by a chafle virgin (96), and after-
wards became, at the vernal equinox the
Ram or Lamb, conqueror of the conflella-
tion of the Serpent, which difappeared from
the heavens.
** ^/hat in his infancy^ this reftorer of the
U 2 " divine
2*92 ^ SURVEY OF THEf
<* divine or celejlial ?2ature, would lead a mean^
*^ humble y ohfciire and indigent IHeT
** By which was meant, that the winter
fun was humbled, depreffed below the ho*-
rizon, and that this firft period of his four
ages, or the feaibns, was a period of obfcu-
rity and indigence, of falling and privation.
** T^hat bei?2g put to death by the wicked, he
" would glorioujly rife again, afcendfrom hell
** into heaven, where he would reign for
" ever,''
" By thefe expreffions was defcribed the
life of the fame Sun, who, terminating his
career at the winter folftice, v/hen Typhon
and the rebellious angels exercifed their
' fway, feemed to be put to death by them j.
but fl^ortly after revived and rofe again-
(97) in the firmament, where he ftill re-
mains.
^* Thefe traditions went flill fartJier, fpe-
Gifying his aftrological and myfterious names,
maintaining that he was called fometimes
Chris or Confervator (98); and hence the
Hindoo God, Cb-is-en, or Chrijina-, and the
Chriftian Chris-tos^ the fon of Mary. That
. at other times he was called Tes, by the
union
ilEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 293
cinion of three letters, which, according to
their numerical value, form the number
608, one of the folar periods (99). And
behold, O Europeans, the name which, with
a Latin termination has become your Tes-us
or Jefus^ the ancient and cabaliftical name
given to young Bacchus, the clandeftine fon
of the virgin Minerva, who in the whole
hiftory of his life, and even in his death,
calls to mind the hiRory of the God of the
Chriftians; that is, the ftar of day^ of which
they are both of them emblems/*
At thefe words a violent murmur arofe
on the part of the Chriftian groupes ; but
the Mahometans, the Lamas and the Hin-
doos having called them to order, the orator
thus concluded his difcourfe.
** You ar£ not to be told," faid he, *' in
what manner the rcO: of this fyftem was
formed in the chaos and anarchy of the three
firft centuries ; hov/ a multiplicity of opi-
nions divided the people, all of which were
-embraced with equal zeal and retained v/ith
equal obftinacy, becaufe alike founded on
ancient tradition, thev were ^iike facred.
You^know how, at the end of three centu-
U 3 ries,
294 ^ SURVEY OF THE
taries, government having eipouled one of
thefe kdiSy made it the orthodox religion ^
that is to fay, the predominant religion, to
the exclufion of the refr, which, on account
of their inferiority, were denominated here-
fies ; how. and by what means of violence
and feduction this religion v/as propagated
and gained fbrength, and afterwards became
divided and weakened ; how, fix centuries
after the innovation of Chrillianity, another
fyflem was formicd out of its materials and
thofe of the Jews, and a political and theo-
logical empire was created by Mahomet at
the expence of that of Pvloles and the vicars
of Jefiis. - '
** Now, if you take a retrofped of the
whole hifrory of the fpirit of religion, you
will f nd, that in its origin it had no other
author than the fenfaticns and wants of
man : that the idea of God had no other
type, no ether model, than that of phyiical
powers, material exiflenccs, operating good
or evil, by impreffions of pleafure or pain on
fenfible beings. You will find that in the
formation of every fyitem, this fpirit of reli-
gion purfued the fame track, and was uni-
fcrr^
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRFS. 295
form in its proceedings ; that in all, the
dogma never failed to reprefent, under the
name God, the operations of nature, and the
paffions and preiudices of men ; that in all,
morality had fcr its fole end, defire of hap-
pinefs and averiion to pain ; but that the
people and the majority of leglflators, igno-
rant of the true road that led thereto, in-
vented falfe, and therefore contrary ideas
of virtue and vice, of good and evil ; that
is, of what renders man happy or miferable.
You will find, that in all, the means and
caufes of propagation and eftablifhment ex-
hibited the fame fccnes, the fame paflion?,
and the fame events, continual difputes about
words, falfe pretexts for inordinate zeal, for
revolutions, for wars, lighted up by the am-
bition of chiefs, by the chicanery of pro-
mulgators, by the credulity of profelytes, by
the ignorance of the vulgar, and by the
grafping cupidity and the intolerant pride of
all. In fhort, you will find that the whole
liiftory of the fpirit of religion, is merely that
of the fallibility and uncertainty of the hu-
man mind, which, placed in a world that it
does not comprehend, is yet defirous of folv-
U 4 ing
296 A SURVEY OF THE
ing the enigma ; and which, the aftonifhed
fpedator of this myilerlous and vifible pro-
digy, invents caufes, fuppofes ends, builds
fyftems ; then, finding one defedlive, aban-
dons it for another not lefs vicious ; hates
the error that it has renounced, is ignorant
of the new one that it adopts ; rejeds the
truth of which it is in purfuit, invents chi-
meras of . heterogeneous and contradictory
beings, and, ever dreaming of wifdom and
happinefs, lofes itfelf in a labyrinth of tor-
ments and illufions,"'
CHAP,
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 297
CHAP. XXIIL
jilMd of all religions the same.
i Hus fpoke the orator, in the name of
thofe who had made the origin and genea-
logy of religious ideas their peculiar ftudy.
The theologians of the different iyftems
now exprelTed their opinions of thisdifcourfe,
*' It is an impious reprefentation/' faid fome,
** which aims at nothing lefs than the fub-
** veriion of all belief, the introducing in-
^* fubordination into the minds of men, and
'^ annihilating our power and miniftry." —
** It is a romance,^' faid others, *' a tifTue of
^* conjedures, fabricated with art, but defli-
*^ tute of foundation." — The moderate and
prudent faid, " Suppofing all this to be true,
** where is the ufe of revealing thefe myfte-
^* ries? Our opinions are doubtlefs pervaded
•" with errors, but thofe errors are a necef-
^^ fary curb on the multitude. The world
^* has gone on thus for two thoufand years;
^* why fiiould we now alter its courfe ?'*
3 - The
298 A SURVEY OF THE
The murmur of difapprobation, which
never fails to arife againfl every kind of in-
novation, already began to increafe, when a
numerous groupe of plebeians and untaught
men of every country and nation, without
prophets, without dodiors, without religious
worlhip, advancing in the fand, attra6ted the
attention of the whole afiembly; and one of
them, addreiling himfelf to the legiQators,
fpoke as follows :
'* Mediators and umpires of nations ! The
flrange recitals that have been made during
the whole of the prefent debate, we never
till this day heard of; and our underftand-
ing, ailcniil.ed and bewildered at fuch a
multitude of doclrincs, fome of them learn-
ed, others abfurd, and all unintelligible, re-
mains in doubt and uncertainty. One re-
iiedion however has ilruck us : in reviewing
fo many prodigious facts, fo many contra-
didlory aifertions, we could not avoid allying
curfelves. Of what importance to us are all
thefe difcufiions ? Where is the neceffity
of our knowing what happened five or fix
thoufand years ago, in countries of which
we are ignorant, among men who will ever
be
/
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 299
be unknown to us ? True or falfe, of what
importanc© is it to us to know whether the
world has exifted fix thoufand years or
twenty thoufand; whether it was made of
fomething or of nothing -, of itfclf, or by an
- artificer, equally in his turn requiring an au-
thor ? What 1 uncertain as we are of what
is palling around us, fliall we pretend to af~
certain what is tranfadting in the fan, the
moon, and imaginary fpaces ? Having for-
gotten our own infancy, ihall we pretend to
know the infancy of the world ? Who can
attefl: what he has never feen ? Who can
certify the truth of what no one compre-
hends ?
*' Befide, what will it avail as to our ex-
igence, whether we believe or rejedl thefe
chimeras ? Hitherto neither our fathers nor
ourfelves have had any idea of them, and yet
we do not perceive that on that account we
have experienced more or lefs fun, more or
iefs fubliftence, more or lefs good or evil.
*' If the knowledge of thefe things be
necefTary, how is it that we have lived as
happily without it as thofe whom it has fo
much difquieted ? If it be fuperfluous, v/hy
Should we now take upon ourfelves the bur-
thea ?"
-00 A SURVEY OF THE
then?" — Then addrefTing^himfelf to the
dorters and theologians : ** How can it be
required of us, poor and ignorant as we are,
v/hofj every moment is fcarcely adequate to
the cares of our fabfii"i:ence and the labours
of v/hich you reap the profit ; how can it
be required of us to be verfed in the nume-
rous hiilories you have related, to read the
variety of books which you have quoted,
and to learn the different languages in
v/hich they are written ? li our lives v/ere
protradted to a thouiand years, fcarcely
would it be fufficient for this purpofe."
" It is not neceffary," faid the doctors,
'*' that you ihould acquire all this fcience :
we poifefs it in your ftead."
*^ Meanwhile," replied thefe children of
fimplicity, " with all your fcience, do you
ao-ree amono^ vourfelves ? What then is its
utility ? Belides, how can you anfwer for
us ? If the faith of one man may be the
fubftitute of the faith of many, what need
was there that you ihould believe ? Your
fathers might believe for you ; and that
would have been the more reafonable, fince
they v/e;-e the eye-witneffes upon whofe
credit you depend. Laftly, what is this
• . , circumflance
KEVOL0TIONS OF EMPIRES. 30I
circumftance which you call behef if it has
no pradlical tendency ? And what practical
tendency can you dlicover in this queftion>
whether the world be eternal or no ?'*
" To beheve wrong refpeding it would
be offenfive to God/' laid the dodlors.
'^ How do you know that ?" cried the
children of limplicity ?
** From our fcriptures/' replied the doc-
tors.
'^ We do not undeffland them/' rejoined
the iimple men.
" We underftand them for you,'' faid the
do(ftors.
" There lies the difficulty," refumed the
iimple men. '' By what right have you ap-
pointed yourfelves mediators between God
and us ?"
" By the command of God," faid the
doctors.
" Give us the proof of that command,'*
faid the iimple men.
" It is in our fcriptures/' fyid the dodlors*
** We do not underftand them/' anfwered
the iimple men; nor can we underftand
how a juft God can place you over oar
heads. V/hy does our comm-on Father re-
quire
202 A SURVEY OF THE
quire us to believe the fame propofitions
with a lefs degree of evidence ? He has
fpoken to you -, be it fo ; he is infallible, he
cannot deceive you. But we are fpoken to
by you ; and who will affure us that you are
not deceived, or that you are incapable of
deceiving ? If we are iniflaken, how can it
confifl with the juilice of God, to condemn
us for the ne.q;le(fl of a rule with which we
were never acquainted ?"
*^ He has given you the law of nature/*
faid the dehors.
" What is the law of nature ?" faid the
iimple men. " If this law be fufficient, why
does he give us another ? If it be infuffi-
cient, why did he give us that ?'*
"The judgments of God," replied the doc-
tors, ^' are myfterious ; his juftice is not re-
trained by the rules of human juilice."
** If juftice with him and with us," faid
the iimple men, " m.ean a different thing,
what criterion can we have to judge of his
juftice ? And once more, to what purpofe
all thefe laws ? What end does he propofe
by them ?"
" To render you more happy," replied a
dodor, " by rendering you better and more
virtuous.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPI:RES. JOJ
virtuous. God has manifefted himfelf by
fo many oracles and prodigies to teach man-
kind the proper ufe of his benefits, and to
diffliade them from injuring each other/*
" If that be the cafe," faid the fimple
men, " the fludies and reafonings you told us
of are unneceffary : wq want nothing but
to have it clearly made out to us, which is
the religion that beft fulfils the end that ail
propofe to themfelves."
Inftantly, every groupe boafling of the
fuperior excellence of its morality, there arole
among the partifans of the different lyftems
of worfhip, a new difpute more violent than
any preceding one. " Ours," faid the ?/Ia-
hometans, " is the purefl: morality, which
teaches every virtue ufeful to men and ac-
ceptable to God. We profefs juftice, difin-
tereftednefs, refignation, charity, almfgiving,
and devotion. We torment not the foul
with fuperftitious fears ; we live free from
alarm, and we die without remorfe/'
" And have you the prefumption," replied
the Chriftian priefts, " to talk of morality ;
youwhofe chief has pra6tifed licentioufnefs,
and preached dodrines that are a fcandal
to all purity, and the leading principle of
whofe
304. A SURVEY OF THE
whofe religion is homicide and war. For
the truth of this we appeal to experience.
For twelve centuries pafl: your fanaticifm
has never ceafed to Ipread defolation and
carnage through the nations of the earth ;
and that Afia, once fo fiourifhing, now
languifhes in iniigniticance and barbarifm,
is afcribable to your dodinnc ; to that doc-
trine, the friend of ignorance, the enemy
of all infl:ra6lion, which, on the one hand,
confecrating the moil ab folate defpotifm
in him who commands, and on the other,
impofing the moil blind and pailive obe-
dience on thofe who are governed, has be-
numbed all the faculties of man, and plung-
ed nations in a flate of brutality.
** How different is the cafe with our fublime
and celeftial morality ! iLis-ihe that drew
the earth from its primitive barbarity, from
the abfurd and cruel fuperftitions of idolatry,
from human facrifices (100), and the orgies
of Pagan myftery: it is (he that has purified
the manners of men, profcribed inceil and
adultery, poliilied favage nations, aboliflied
ilavery, introduced new and unknown virtues
to the world, univerfal charity, the equality
of
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 70Z
of mankind in the eyes of God, forgivenefs
and* forgetfalnefs of injuries, extinction of
tlie paiiions, contempt of worldly greatnefs,
and, in (l^iort, taught the necellity of a life
perfectly holy and fpiritual."
^^ We admire," faid the Mahometans,
•^^ the eafe with which you can reconcile that
^evangelical charity and meeknefs of which
you fo much boall:, with the injuries and
"outrages that you are continually exercifing
towards your neighbour. When you crimi-
nate with fo little ceremony the morals of the
great charader revered by us, we have a fair
opportunity of retorting upon you in the
condud: of himi whom you adore: but we dif-
dain fuch advantages, and, confining ourfelves
to the real objed: of the queflioa, we main-
tain, that your gofpel moi-ality is by no means
charadlerifed by the perfedlion v/hich you
afcribe to it. It is not true, that it has in-
troduced into the world new and unknown
virtues : for example, the equality of man-
kind in the eyes of God, and the fraternity
and benevolence which are the confequence
of this equality, were tenets formerly pro-
fefTed by the fed of Hermetics and Sama-
X ne.ans
3C6 A SURVEY OF THE
jieans (loi), from whom you have your
defcent. As to forgiveiiefs of injuries, it
had been tiught by the Pagans themfelves ^
but in the latitude you give to it, it ceafes to
be a virtue, and bccom.cs an immoFality and
a crime. Your boafied precept, to him that
Jfrikcs thee en thy right checlz turn the other
aijo, is not only contrary to the feehngs of
man, but a flagrant violation of every prin-
liple of juilice ; it emboldens the wicked hj
impunity, dc^grades the vij-tuous by the ier-
vih'ty to v/Iiich it fubjed"S them ; delivers up
the Vv'or'd. to diforder and tyranny, and dif-
f dves the bands of fuciety : fuch is the t^ruc
ipirit of your doctrine. The precepts and
parables of your goipel alio never repreient
God other than as a defpot, a<?dng by no
ride of ec;uiiv; th;^]T as a partial fither,
treating a debauched and prodigal Ion with
greater favour lii-^n his obedient and virtuous
children ; than as a capricious miafler, giving
the f?.me v/ages to liim. who has wrought but
one hour, as to ti^ofe who have borne the
burthen and heat of the day, and preferring
the lail: comers to the fee'i^,' In fhort, your
morality throughout is unfrrendly. to hunian-r
intcrcourf?.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. ..?07
•J /
ifitercourle,a code of mifanthropy, calculated
to give men a difguO: for life and fociety, and
attach them to folitude and celibacy.
*' With refpedt to the manner in which
you have pradiifed your boafted docflrine, we
in our turn appeal to the teflimony of fad:,
and afk : Was it your evancrellcal meeknefs
and forbearance v/hich excited thofe endlefs
wars am.ong your fedaries, thofe atrocious
perfecutioRS of vvhat you called heretics,
thofe cruiades againfl the Arians, the Mani-
cheans and the Protefrants; not to mention
thofe which you have committed againfl us,
nor the iacrilei^ious affociatlons ilillfubfiftin^
among you, formacd of m.en who have fworn
to perpetuate them * ? Was it the charity
of your gofpel that led you to exterminate
whole nations in Am^erica, and to deftroy the
Gmpires of Mexico and Peru ; that makes
you ftill defolate Africa, the inhabitants of
which you fell like cattle, notwithftanding
the abolition of ilavery that you pretend your
religion has cffeded; that makes you ravage
* The Oath taken by the Knights of the Order of
^lalta, is to kill, or make the Mahometaris prifoners, for
the gloi^^ of God.
X 2 India
208 A SVRVEY OF THE
India whofe domains you uilirp; in iliort, is
it charity that has promptsd you for three-
centuries paiL to difturb the peaceable inha-
bitants of three continents, the moft prudent
of whom, thofe of Japan and China, have
been conftrained to baniili you from their
country, that they might efcape your chains
and recover their domeflic tranquillity V
Here the Bramins, the Rabbins, the Bonzes,
the Chamans, the prief^s of the Molucca
lilands and of the coaft of Guinea, over-
whelming the Chriflian do6lors with re-
proaches, cried: *' Ye?, thefe men are rob-
bers and hypocrites, preaching nmplicity to
enveigle confidence; humility, the more eafy
to enfiave; poverty, in order to appropriate all
riches to themiielves; they promife another
world the better to invade this ; and, while
they preach toleration and charity, they
commit to the ilamcs, in tliC name of God,
thofe who do not worfliip him exactly as
they do/'
•* Lying pritils" retoi ted the miffionaries,
'* it is ycu v/lio abuie the credulity of igno-
rant nations, that you may bend them to
your yoke : your miniftry is the art of inipaf-
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 3O9
ture and deception : you have made religion
a iyilem of avarice and cupidity : you feign
to have correfpondence with fpirits, and the
oracles they iliue are your own w^ills; you pre-
tend to read the ftars, and your deiires only are
what deftiny decrees : you make idols fpeak,
and the Gods are the mere inflruments of
your paffions : you have invented facrifices
and libations for the fake of the profit you
would thus derive from the milk of the
flocks, and the flefla and fat of victims ^ and
under the cloak of piety you devour the of-
ferings made to Gods v/lio cannot eat, and
the fubftance of the people, obtained by in-
duftry and toil."
*' And you," replied the Bramins, the Bon-
zes, and the Chamans, '^ fell to the credulous
fur\^ivor vain prayers for the fouls of his dead
relatives. With your indulgences and abfo-
lutions 3^ou have arrogated to yourfelves the
power and fundions of God himfelf: and
making a traffic of his grace, you have put
heaven up to au^flion, and have founded, by
your fyftem of expiation, a tariff of crimes
that has perverted the confcieaces of mea
(102)."
-^lO A SURVEY OF THE
" Add to this," faid the Imans, " that with
thefe men has originated the mo/l infidious.
of ail wicked nefs 5 the abfurd and impious
obHgation of recounting to them the ivjAi
impenetrable fecrets of adlions, of thoughts,
(ji'iidUiicSy (confeiiicn'; -, by ixieans of which
their infoleiit curionty has carried its inqui-
fition even to the facred fanduary of ihe
nuptial bed (103), and the inviolable afyliun
of the heart.'*
Ey thus reproaching each other, the chiefs
ofthedittbrent vvoi-Qiips revealedall the crimes
of their miniilry, all the hidden vices oi their
profeflicn, and U cipnearcd thai the fpirit, the
fyfiem of conduct, uie adiions and manners
ofprieih were, among all nations, uniformly
the lame: tha;, every wiiere they had formed
fecretanbciatloriC.rurporations of individuals,
enemies to me refc or the fociety (104) : —
that they' h.-d attributed to themfclves ccr--
tain prerogatives and imn amities, in order to
be exempt from the binlhens "-Inch fell up-
on the otL'.r dalles : — that they ihared nei-
ther the toil of the labourer, nor tlie perils
of the foldier, nor tbe viciflitudes of the
merchant: — that they \^(i a life of cchbacy,
to
Hevolutigns of empires. 311
to avoid domeftic inconveniences and cares :
— that, under the garb of poverty, they found
the fecret of becoming rich, and of procuring
every enjoyment: — that under the name of
mendicants, theycolleded impoftsmore con-
iiderable than thofe paid to princes :-— that
under the appellation of gifts and offerings,
they obtained a certain revenue unaccompa-
nied Vvdth trouble or expence : — that upon
the pretext of feclulion and devotion, they
lived in indolence and licentioufnefs : — •
that they had made alms a virtue, that they
plight fubfifl in comfort upon the labour of
other men: — that they had invented the ce-
remonies of worfliip to attradt the reverence
of the people, calling themfelves the medi-
lators and interpreters of the Gods, with the
fole viev/ of aliuming all his power ; and that
for this purpofe, according to the know^ledge
or ignorance of thofe upon whom they had
to work, they made themfelves, by turns,
aftrologers, carters of planets, augurers, ma-
gicians (106), necromancers, quacks, cour-
tiers, confeffors of princes, always aiming at
influence for their own exclufive advantage:
—that fometimes they had exalted the pre-
X 4 rogative
212 A SURVEY OF THE
rogative of kings, and held their perfons to be
facred, to obtain their favour or participate in
their power : — that at others they had de-
cried this dodrine and preached the murder
of tyrants (referving it to themfelves to fpe-
cify the tyranny), in order to be reveijgedof
the flights and d'fjbedience they had expe-
rienced from them:-- -that at all times they
had called by the name of im oiety wha t prov-
ed injurious to their interefc ; had oppofed
public in ft ruction, that they might miOncpo-
lize icicnce; and^ in iliort, had univerfally
found the fecret of living in tranquillity
amid ft the anarchy they occalioned ; fecure,
under the defpotifm they fanclioned ; rn indo-
lence, amidft'the induftry they recommend-
ed; and in abundance, in the very bofom of
fcarcity; and all this, by carrying on thefmgu-
lar com.merce of felling words and geftures
to the credulous, v/ho paid for them as for
commodities of the greateft value (107).
Then the people, feized with fury, were
upon the poLnt of tearing to pieces the men
Vv'ho had deceived them ; but the legiflators,
arrefting this fally of violence, and addreiTing
the chiefs and dodtors, faid: '^i^^nd is it thus,
O in-
KEVOLIJTIONS OF EMPIRES. JjJ
O inftitutors of the people, that you have
mided and abufed them ?''
And the terrified priefls replied: ^^ O legif-
ktors, we are men, and the people are fo
fuperflitious ! their weaknefs excited us to
take advantage of it *.''
And the kings faid : '' O legiflators, the
people are fo fervile and fo ignorant ! they
have proilrated themfelves before the yoke
which we fcarcely had the boldnefs to Caow
to them -j-.'*
Then tlie legiflators, turning towards the
people, faid to them : '' Remember what you
have juft heard; it contains two important
truths. Yes, it isyourfelves that caufe the
evils of which you complain ; it is you that
encourage tyrants by a bafe flattery of their
power, by an abfurd admiration of their pre-
tended beneficence, by converting obedience
into fervihty, and liberty into licentioufnefs,
and receiving every impofi tion with credulity,
* Confider in this view the Brabanters.
t The inhabitants of Vienna, for example, who har-
neiTed themfelves like cattle, and drew the chariot of
Leopold.
Can
314 -^ SURVEY OF THE
Can you think of punching upon them the
errors of your own ignorance and fclfiili-
pefs ?"
And the people, fmitten with confulion,
^remained in a melancholy filence.
i '.I .- - ■'
xrcv, : :
1- •
C II A P.
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES, 3I5
CHAP. XXIV,
SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF CON^
TRADICTTONS.
i HE leg-iilators then refumed their addrefs.
?* O nations 1" faid they, " we have heard the
dlfculiion of your opinions; and the difcord
that divides you has fuggeiled to us various
refledlions, which we beg leave to propoie
to you as queilions v/hich it is neceflary you
fliould folve.
" Gonlidering, in the firR- place, the nu-
merous and contradictory creeds you have
adopt'cd, we would a& on what motives
your perfualion is founded ? Is it from
deliberate choice that you have enhfted
under the banners of one prophet rather
than under thofe of another ? Before you
adopted this dodlrine in preference to that,
did you fird compare, did you maturely ex-
amine them ? Or has not your belief been
rather the chance refult of birth, and of the
empire of education and habit? Are you
not
il6 A SURVEY OF THE
not born Chrillians on the banks of the
Tiber, Mahometans on thofe of the Eu-
phrateSs Idolaters on the iliores of India, in
the fame manner as you are born fair in
cold and temperate regions, and of a fable
complexion under the African fun ! And if
your opinions are the effedl of your poll don
on the globe, of parentage, of imitadon, are
fuch fortuitous circumitances to be regard-
ed as grounds of convidiion and arguments
of truth ?
*' In the fecond place, wlien we relied:
on the profcriptive fpirit and the arbitrary
intolerance of your mutual claims, we are
terriiied at the confequences that flow from
your principles. Nations ! who reciprocally
doom each other to the thunder-bolts of
celeftial v/rath, fuppofe the univerfal Being,
whom you revere, v/ere at this njoment to
defcend from heaven among this crowd of
people, and, clothed in all his power, were
to fit upon this throne to judge you : fuppofe
bim to fay—" Mortals 1 I confent to adopt
^* your own principles of juftice into my ad-
** minidration. Of all the different reli-
*' gions you profefs, a fingle religion fliall
. ■ ' ** now
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 317
'' now be preferred to the refl; all the others,
*' this vaft multitude of ftandards, of nations,
^« of prophets, fhall be condemned to ever-
«' lafting defcrudlicn. Nor is this enough :
*^ amonp- the different fedls of the chcfen re-
'' ligion one only {l;all experience my favour,
*^ and the reft be condemned. I will go
^' farther than this : of this fmgle fed of
*^ this one religion, I will reje(fl all the in-
*' dividuals whofe conduct has not corre-
*' fponded to their fpeculative precepts. O
*' man ! few indeed will then be the number
" of the eled: you affign me ! Penurious
*^ hereafter will be the ftream of beneficence
*' which will fucceed to my unbounded
*' mercy ? Rare and folitary will be the ca-
" talogue of admirers that you henceforth
*' deftine to my greatnefs and my glory."
And the legiflators ariiing faid : *' It is
enough ; you have pronounced your w'ill.
Ye nations, behold the urn in which your
names fhall be placed; one fmgle name Ihall
be drawn from the multitude ; approach and
conclude this terrible lottery/' — Butthe peo-
ple, feized with terror^ cried : '' No,, no) we
are brethren and equals, v/e cannot confent
to
*;i8 A SURVF.Y OF THE
-to condemn each other." — Then the legif-
lators having refumed their feats, continued :
<^ O men ! who difpute upon lb many fub-
ie^LS, lend an attentive ear to a problem we
lubmit to you, and decide it in the exercife
of your own judgments." — The people ac-
cordingly lent the flrideil: attentions and tl>e
legiilators lifting one hand towards heaven>
and pointing to the fi'n, faid : ** O nations,
i§ the form of this fun \vhich enlightens you
triangular or fquare?"— -And they replied
v.ith one voice, *^ It is neither, it is round."
Then taking the golden balance that was
upon the altar, " This metal," aiked the
legifiators, *' which you handle every day, is
a mafs of it heavier than another mafs of
equal dimenfions of brafs ?" — '^ Yes," the
people again unanimouily replied; " gold is
heavier than brafs."
The legiilators then took the fword. ** Is
this iron lefs hard than lead ?" — *' No," faid
the nations.
" Is fno-ar fweet and eall bitter ?— " Yes."
" Do you love pleafure, and hate pain?" —
" Yes." • . ^
" Refpeding thefs objedls and a multi-
plicity
REVOLUTIONS OF EMP'lRES. 319
pllcity of Others of a fimilar nature, you have
then but one opinion. Now tell us, is there
an abyfs in the centre of the earth, and are
there inhabitants in the moon V*
At this queition a general noife was heard^
and every nation gave a different anfwer.
Some replied in the affirmative, others in the
negative ; fome faid it was probable, others
that it was an idle and ridiculous queflion,
and others that it was a fabjedl worthy of
enquiry; in fliort there prevailed among
them a total difagreement.
After a fl:iort interval, the legillators hav-
ing reftored iilence : ** Nations," faid they,
'^ how is this to be accounted for ? We
propofed to you certain quefhions, and you
were all of one opinion without diftincftion of
race or fee?: : fair or black, difciples of Ma-
homet or of Mofes, v/orihippers of Bedou or
of Jefus, you all gave the fame anfwer. We
now propofe another queil:ion, and you all
differ ! whence this unanimity in one cafe,
and this difcordance in the other."
And the groupe of fimple and untaught
men replied : " The reafon is obvious. Re-
fpeding the fir ft queflion s, we fee and feci
the
0 20 A SURVEY OF THE
the objects ; we fpeak of them from fenfa-
tion : refpedting the fecond, they are above
the reach of our icnf^s, and v/e have no
guide buf conjecture/'
'' You have folved the problem/* faid the
Ip'^lilators; *' and the fcllowln'^ truth is thus
by your own confciTion eflabliihed : When-
ever objects are prefent and can be judged of
by your fenfes, you invariably agree in opi-
nion ; and your differ in fentiment only when
they are abfent and out of your reach.
*' From this truth flov/s another equally
clear and deferving of notice. Since you
ao-i-ee refpeding what you with certainty
kncv^% it follov/s, that when you difagree, it
is becaufe you do not know, do not under-
ftand, are not fure of the objedl in queflion :
or in other v/ords, that you difpute, quarrel
and fight among yourfelves, for v/hat is un-
certai.i, for that of which you doubt. But
is this w^ife ; is this the part of rational and
intelligent beings ?
'' And is it not evident, that it is not truth
for v/hich you contend ; that it is not her
caufe you are jealous of maintaining, but the
caufe of your own paffions and prejudices ;
that
REVOLUTIONS 6# EMPIRES. 32I
that it is not the object as it really exifts that
you wifh to verify, but the objed; as it ap-
pears to you ; that it is not the evidence of
the thing that you are anxious fhould pre-
vail, but your perfonal opinion, your mode
of feeing and judging ? There is a power
that you want to exercife, an intereil that
you want to maintain^ a prerogative chat you
want to affume; in fliort, the whole is a
ftruggle of vanity. And as evety individual,
when he compares himfelf with every other^
finds himfelf to be his equal and fellow, he
refifts by a fi milar feeling of right ; and from
this right, which you all deny to each other,
and from the inherent confcioufnefs of your
equality, fpring your difputes, your combats^
and your intolerance.
** Now, the only way of reftoring unani-
mity is by returning to nature^ and taking
the order of things which flie has eilablifh-
ed for your diredlor and guide ; and this far-
ther truth will then appear from your uni-
formity of fentiment :
" That real objeds have in themfelves an
identical, conftant, and invariable mode of
txiftence, and that in your organs exifts a
Y fimilar
g22 A SURVEY OF THE
fimilar mode of being afFeded andimpreffed
by them.
" But at the fame time, inafmuch as thefc
organs are liable to the direction of your
will, you may receive different impreffions,
and find yourfelves under different relations
towards the fame objects ; fo that you are
with refpedt to them, as it were a fort of
mirror, capable of refledling them fuch as
they are, and capable of disfiguring and mif-
reprefenting them.
" As often as you perceive the objeds,
fuch as they are, your feelings are in accord
with the objefe, and you agree in opinion ;
and it is this accord that conftitutes truth.
** On the contrary, as often as you differ
In opinion, your diffentions prove that you
do not fee the objeds fuch as they are, but
vary them.
'' Whence it appears, that the caufe of
your diffentions is not in the objeds them-
felves, but in your m.inds, in the manner in
which you perceive and judge.
" If therefore we would arrive at uni-
formity of opinion, we muff previoufly
efcablilli certainty, and verify the refem-
blance
REVOlUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 323
Maflce which our ideas have to their mo-
dels. Now this cannot be obtained, except
fo far as the objedts of our enquiry can
be referred to the teftimony and fubjeded
to the examination of our fenfes. What-
ever cannot be brought to this trial is be-
yond the limits of our underflanding ; wo
have neither rule to try it by, nor meafure
by which to inftitute a comparifon, nor
fource of demonftration and knowledge con-
cerning it.
" Whence it is obvious, that, in order to
live in peace and harmony, we mufl confent
not to pronounce upon fuch objects, nor
annex to them importance; we muft draw
a line of demarcation between fuch as can be
verified and fuch as cannot, and feparate by
an inviolable barrier, the world of fantaftic
beings from the world of realities : that is to
fay, all civil efFed: muft be taken away from
theological and religious opinions.
" This, O nations, is the end that a great
people, freed from their fetters and preju-
dices, have propofed to themfeives; this is the
work in which, by their command, and un-
der their immediate aufpices, we were en-
Y 2 gaged, -
J24 A SURVEY OF THE
gaged, when your kings and your priefts
came to interrupt our labours. . . . Kings and
priefts, you may yet for a while fufpend the
Iblemn publication of the laws of nature ;
but it is no longer in your power to annihi-
late or to fubvert them.'*
A loud cry was then heard from every
quarter of the general affembly of nations ;
and the whole of the people, unanimoufly
teilifying their adherence to the fentiments
of the legillators, encouraged them to refume
their facred and fublimaC undertaking. ^' In«
vefligate," faid they, '' the laws which na-
ture, for our direction, has implanted in our
breafts, and form from thence an authentic
and immutable code. Nor let this code be.
calculated for one family, or one nation only,
but for the whole without exception. Be
the legiflators of the human race, as ye are
the interpreters of their common nature.
Shew us the line that feparates the world of
chimeras, from that of realities y and teach
us, after fo many religions of error and delu-
fion, the religion of evidence and truth."
Upon this, the legiflators refuming their
enquiry into the phyfical and conftituent
attributes
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 325
attributes of man, and the motives and af-
fedlions which govern him in his individual
and focial capacity, unfolded in the follow-
ing terms the laws on which Nature herfelf
has founded his felicity.
^ND OF THE FIRST PART,
Y3
NOTES.
Jf AG E I. (*) Eleventh year of Abd-id Hamld. That is,
1784 of the Chriftian sera, and 1198 of the Hegira. The
emigration of the Tartars took place in March, imme-
diately on the nianifefto of the emprefs declaring the
Crimea to be incorporated with RulHa. , . . A MuJfuU
man prince of the na?ne of Gengis Khan. It was Chahin
Guerai. Gengis Khan was borne and ferved by the kings
whom he conquered : Chahin, on the contrary, after
felling his country for a penfion of eighty thoufand roubles,
accepted the commiilion of captain of guards to Cathe-
rine II. He afterwards returned home, and, according to
cuftom was ftrangled by the Turks.
Page 7. {a). The precious thread ofSerica. That is the
filk originally derived from the mountainous country where
the great wall terminates, and v/hich appears to have been
the cradle of the Chinefe empire. . . . The tijfues of Caf-
ftmere. The fhav/ls which Ezckiel feems to have defcribed
under the appellation of Choud-choud. . . . The gold of
Ophir, This country, which was one of the twelve Arab
y 4 cantons,
328 NOTES.
cantons, and \yhich has fo much and fo unfuccefsfully
been fought for by the antiquaries, has left however fome
trace of itfeh" in Ofor, in the province of Oman, upon the
Perfian Gulph, neighbouring on one fide to the Sabeans,
who are celebrated by Strabo for their plenty of gold,
and on the other to Aula or Hevila where the pearl
£lliery was carried on. See the 27th chapter of Ezekiel, -."
which gives a very curious and extenfive picture of the
commerce of Aila at that period.
Page 8. [b). This Sjria contained a hundred flourijhing
cities. According to Jofephus and Strabo, there were in
Syria tyreh^e millions of fouls j and the traces that remain
of culture and habitation confirm the calculation.
Page 12. (t). A hl'md fatality. This is the univerfaland
rooted prejudice of the Eaft. " It was written," is there
the anfwer to every thing. Hence refuit an unconcern and
apathy, the moft powerful impediments to inilruclion and
civilization.
Page 28. (J). The toe famous penlnfula cf India. Of
what real good has been the commerce of India to the
mafs of the people ? On the contrary, how great the evil
occafioned by the fuperflition of this country having been
added to the general fuperftition ?
Page 2.9. (f). Ancient kingdom of Ethiopia. In the next
volume of the Encyclopedia will appear a memoir refpedtw
ing the chronology of the twelve ages anterior to the
palling of Xerxes into Greece, in which I conceive my-
felf to have proved, that Upper Egypt formerly compofed
a diftin6t kingdom;, known to the Hebrews by the name
of Kous^ anJ to which the appellation of Ethiopia was
fpecially given. This kingdom preferved its independ-
ence to the time of Pfammeticus, at which period, being
' united
NOTES. 329
united to the Lower Egypt, it loft its name of Ethiopia,
which thenceforth was bellowed upon the nations of Nu-
bia, and upon the different hordes of Blacks, including
Thebes, their metropolis.
Page /W. (y). Thebes with its hundred palaces. The
idea of a city with a hundred gates, in the common accep-
tation of the word, is fo abfurd, that I am alloniihed the
equivoque has not before been felt.
It has ever been the cuftom of the Eafl: to call palaces
■and houfes of the great by the name of gates, becaufe
the principal luxury of thefe buildings confifts in the
fmgular gate leading from the ftreet into the court, at the
■ fartheft extremity of which the palace is fituated. It is
under iino. veflibule of this gate that converfation is held
with pafTengers, and a .fort of audience and hofpitality
given. All this v/as doubtlefs known to Homer ; but
poets make no commentaries, and readers love the mar-
vellous.
This city of Thebes, now Lougfor, reduced to the con-
dition of a miferable village, has left aftoniihing monu-
ments of its magnificence. Particulars of this may be k^n.
in the plates of Norden, in Pocock, and in the recent
travels of Bruce. Thefe monuments give credibility to
all that Homer has related of its fplendour, and led us to
infer of its political power and external commerce.
Its geogiaphicai pofition was favourable to this two-
fold object. For, on one fide, the valley of the Nile,
fmgularly fertile, mull have early occafioned a numerous
population ; and, on the other, th^ Red Sea giving com-
munication wiih Arabia and India, and the Nile with
AbyiTmia and the Mediterranean^ Thebes was thus na-
turally allied to the richefl countries on the globe ; an
alliance
33®
NOTES.
alliance that procured it an acllvity fo much the greater,
as Lower Egypt, at firft a fwamp, was nearly, if not to-
tally, uninhabited. But when at length this country had
been drained by the canals and dikes which Selbftris
conftruc!:cd, population was introduced there, and wars
grofe which proved fatal to the power of Thebes. Com-
merce then took another route, and defcended to the
point of the Red Sea, to the canals of Sefoftris (See
JStrabo) and wealth and activity were transformed to
Memphis. This is manifeilly what Diodorus means,
when he tells us (Lib. L feft. 2.) that as foon as Mem.-
phis was eftablifned and m.ade a wholefome and delicious
abode, kings abandoned Thebes to fix themfelves there.
Thus Thebes continued to decline, and Memphis tq
flourifli till the time of Alexander, who, building Alex-
andria on the border of the fea, caufed Memphis to fall
in its turn ; fo that profperity and power feem to have
defcended hiflorically flep by ftep along the Nile : whence
it refults, both phyfically and hlftorically, that the exift-
cnce of Thebes was prior to that of the other cities. The
teftimony of writers is very pofitive in this refpect. " The
" Thebans," fays Diodorus, " confider themfelves as the
" moft ancient people of the earth, and affert, that v/ith
'' them originated phiiofophy and the fcience of the
*« ftars. Their fituation, it is true, is infinitely favourable
" to agronomical obfervation, and they have a more accu-
" rate divifion of time into months and year than other
*' nations, &:c."
What Diodorus fays of the Thebans, every author and
himfelf elfewhere, repeat of the Ethiopians, which tends
more firmly to eftablilhi the identity of place of v^hich I
Jiave fpoken. " The Ethiopians conceive themfelves (fays
t "he,
NOTES, 331
l< he. Lib. lit) tp be of greater antiquity than any othef
«' nation : and it is probable that, born under the fun's path,
f' its warmth may have ripened them eadier than other
?« men. They fuppofe themfelves alfo to be the inventors
*' of divine worfhip, of feftivals, of folemn aflembUes,
.*' of facrifices, and every other rehgious pradice. They
^' affirm that the Egyptians are one of their colonies, and
<« that the Delta, which was formerly fea, became land
*' by the conglomeration of the earth of the higher
" country, which was wafhed down by the Nile. They.
<' have, like the Egyptians, two fpecies of letters, hiero-
*' glyphics and the alphabet; but among the Egyptians
*' the firft was known only to the priefts, and by them
« tranfmitted from father to fon, whereas both Ipecies are
<' common among the Ethiopians."
" The Ethiopians," fays Lucian, page 985, " were the
»* firft who invented the fcience of the ftars, and gave
<* names to the planets, not at random and without mean-
f' ing, but defcriptive of the qualities which they con-
« ceived them to pofiefs ; and it was from them that
5< this art pafied, ftill in an imperfeil: ftate, to the Egyp-
« tians."^
It would be eafy to multiply citations upon this fubje^l;
'from all which it follows, that we have the ftrongeft
reafon to believe that the country neighbouring to the
tropic, was the cradle of the fciences, and of confequence
that the firft learned nation was a nation of Blacks, for
it is incontrovertible, that by the term Ethiopians, the
ancients meant to reprefent a people of black complexion,
thick lips, and woolly hair. I am therefore inclined to
})elieve, that the inhabitants of Lower Egypt were origi-
p^lly a foreign colony imported from Syria and Arabia, a
medley
332 NOTES.
jr.edley of difFerent tribes of Savages, originally fliepherds
and iifhermcn, who by degrees formed themfelves into a
nation, and who, by nature and defcent, were enemies of
the Thebans, by whom they were no doubt defpifed and
treated as barbarians.
i have jfaggeftcd the fame ideas in my Travels into
Syria, founded upon the black complexion of the Sphinx.
I have fince afcertained, that the antique images of
Thebais have the fame characleriftic ; and Mr. Bruce
his offered a multitude of analogous facts : but this
traveller, of whom I heard fome mention at Cairo, ha&
lb interwoven thefe facis with certain fyftematic opinions,
that we fhould have recourfe to his narratives with
caution.
It IS fnigular that Africa, fituated To near us, fnould be
the country on earth which is the leaft known. The
Englidi are at this moment making attempts, the fuccef^
of which ought to excite our emulation,
Piige 30. (g). Here ivere the ports of the Idumeam^
Ailah (Eloth), and Atfiom-Gaber (Hefion-Geber).
The name of the firft of thefe towns Hill fubhfls in its
ruins, at the point of the gulph of the Red Sea, aud in
the route which the pilgrims take to Mecca. Hefion
"has at prefent no trace, any more than Qolzoum and
Faran : it was, however, the harbour for the fleets of
Solomon. The vcfTels of this prince, condu6ted by the
Tyrians, failed along the coafl of Arabia to Ophir in the
Perfian Gulph, thus opening a communication with the
merchants of India and Ceylon. That this navigation
was entirely of Tyrian invention, appears both from the
pilots and fhipbuilders employed by the Jews, and the
names that were given to the trading iflands, viz. Tyrus
* and
NOTES. 333
and Aradus, now Barhaln. The voyage was performed
in two diffent modes, either in canoes of ofier and
rufiies, covered on the outfide with fkins done over with
pitch : thefe veflels were unable to quit the Red Sea, or
i'o much as to leave the fhore. The fecond mode of
carrying on the trade was by means of velTels with decks
of the fize of our long boats, which were able to pafs the
ftrait and to v/eather the dangers of the ocean : but for
this purpofe it was nec'eiTary to bring the wood from
Mount Lebanus and Cilicia, where it is very fine and in
great abundance. This wood was firfl conveyed iji floats
from Tarfus to Phenicia, for which reafon the vefiels
were called fliips of Tarfus : from whence it has been ^
ridiculoufly inferred, that they went round the promon-
tary of Africa as far as Tortofa in Spain. From Phenicia
it was tranfported on the backs of camels to the Red Sea,
which pra6tice ftill continues, becaufe the fliores of this
fea are .abfolutely unprovided with wood even for fuel.
Thefe vefiels fpent a complete year in their voyage, that
is, failed one year, fojourned another, and did not return
till the third. This tedioufnefs was owing, firft to their
cruizing from port to port, as they do at prefent; fecondly^
to their being detained by the Monfoon currents ; and
thirdly, becaufe, according tathe calculations of Pliny and
Strabo, it was the ordinary practice among the ancients
to fpend three years in a voyage of twelve hundred
leagues. Such a commerce muft have been very expen-
five, particularly as they were obliged to carry with them
their proviiions and even freil:^ water. For this reafon
Solomon made himfelf mafter of Palmyra, which was at
that time inhabited, and was already the magazine and
high road of merchants by the way of the Euphrates.,
Thi5:
33i. NOTE S.
This conquefl brought Solomon much nearer to th&
tountry of gold and pearls. This alternative of a route
either by the Red Sea or by the river Euphrates was to
the ancients, what in later times has been the alternative
in a voyage to the Indies, either by crofling the Ifthmus
of Suez or doubling the Cape of Good Hope. It appears
that till the time of Mofes this trade was carried on acrofs
the defert of Syria and Theais ; that afterwards it fell
into the hands of the Phenicians, who fixed its fite upon
the Red fea, and that it was mutual jealoufy that induced
the kings of Nineveh and Babylon ta undertake the de-
ftrudtion of Tyre and Jerufakm. I infift the more upon
thefefa6ls, bocaufe I have never feen anything reafonablc
upon the fubjefl.
Pac^e 31. {h), Babylon, the ruins of which are trodden un^
derfiot of men. It appears that Babylon occupied on the
Eaftern Bank of the Euphrates a fpace of ground fix
leagues in length. Throughout this fpace bricks are found,
b'/ means of which daily additions are made to the tov/n
of Helle. Upon many of thefe are chara6lers written with
a nail fimilar to thofe of Perfepolis. I am indebted for
thefe fa6ls to M. de Bcauchamp, grand vrcar of Babylon,
a traveller equally diftinguiflied for his knowledge of aftro-
nomy and his veracity.
Page 59. f/j. Thofe wells of Tyre. See refpe£ting thefe
monuments, my Travels into Syria, vol. ii. p. 214.
Thofe arttficial banks of the Euphrates. From the toWn
or village of Samaouat the courfe of the Euphrates is
accompanied vv'ith a double bank, which defcends as far
as its junction v/ith the Tygris, and from thence to the
fea, being a length of about a hundred leagues French
meafjre. The heighth of thefe artiiicial banks is not uni-
form^
NOTES. 333
form, but Increafes as you advance from the Tea ; it may
be efti mated at from twelve to fifteen feet. But for them,
the inundation of the river vi'ould bury the country
around, which is flat, to an extent of twenty or twenty--
five leagues ; and even, notwithftanding thefe banks, there
has been in modern times an overflow which has covered
the whole triangle formed by the jundtion of tliis river
to the Tigris, being a fpace of country of 130 fquare
leagues. By the ftagnation of thefe waters an epidemical
difeafe of the moft fatal nature was occafioned. It follows
from hence, i. That all the flat country bordering upon
thefe rivers was originally a marfh ; ^. That this marfh
could not have been inhabited previoufly to the conftruc*
tion of the banks in quefliion ; 3. That thefe banks could
not have been the work but of a population prior as to
date : and the elevation of Babylon therefore muft have
been poflerior to that of Nineveh, as I think I have chro-
nologically demonftrated in the memoir above cited. See
Encyclopedie, vol. xiii. of Antiquities.
Page id. (k). Thofe conduits of Medea. The modern
Aderbidjan, which was a part of Medea, the mountains
of Kourdeftan, and thofe of Diarbekr, abound with
fubterranean canals, by means of which the ancient in-
habitants conveyed water to their parched foil m order to
fertilize it. It was regarded as a meritorious a6}, and a
religious duty prefcribed by Zoroafter, who, inftead of
preaching celibacy, mortifications, and other pretended
virtues of the Monkifh fort, repeats continually in the
paflages that are preferved refpedting him in the Sad-der
and the Zend-avefta, « That the adion moft pleafmg to
" God is to plough and cultivate the earth, to water it
« with running ftrearas, to multiply vegetation and living
" beings.
23S NOTE S.
« beings, to have numerous flocks, yoiung and fruitft^
'• virgins, a multitude of children, &c. &c.'*
Page 62. fl). This inequaUty^ the r,fult of accident^ was
taken for the laiv of nature. Ahrioft all the ancient philo-
fophers and politicians have laid it down as a principle,
that men are born unequal, that nature has created fome
to he free, and others to be Haves. Expreflions of this
kind are to be found in Ariftotle, and even in Plato,
called the divine, doubtkfs in th'^ i :r<e fenfe as the my-
thological reveries which he promulgated. With all the
people of antiquity, the Gauls, the Romans, the Athe-
nians, the right of the ftrongeft was the right of na-
tions ; and from the fame principle are derived all the
political diforders and public national crimes that at pre-
fent exift.
Page id, (m). Paternal tyranny laid the foundation of
political defpatifin. Upon this fmgle expreifion it would
be eafy to write a long and important chapter. We
might prove in it, beyond contradiction, that all the
abufes of national governments have fprung from thofe
of domcilic government, from that government called
patriarchal, which fuperficial minds have extolled without
having analyzed it. Numberlefs fe6ls demonftrate, that
with every infant people, in every favage and barbarous
ftate, the father, the chief of the family, is a dcfpot, and a
cruel and infolent defJDOt. The wife is his flave, the
children his fervants. This king fleeps or fmokes his
pipe, v/hile his wife and daughters perform all the
drudgery of the houle, and even that of tillage and culti-
vation, as far as occupations of this nature are pra6i:ifcd.
in fuch focieties; and no fooner have the boys acquired;
§rength, than they are allowed to beat the females and.
make-
NOTES. 337
rr>ake them ferve and wait upon them as they do upon
their fathers. Similar to this is the (late of our own un-
ci vihzed peafants. In proportion as civih'zation fpreads,
the mr,nners become milder, and the condition of the
women improves, till, by a contrary excefs, they arrive
at dominion, and then a nation becomes effeminate ap.d
corrupt. It is remarkable, that parental authority is great
accoiding as the government is derpctic. China, India,
and Turkey are (hiking examples of this. One would
fuppofe that tyrants gave themfdves accomplices, and
intercftcd ilibaltern defpots to maintain their authority*
In oppofkion to this the Romans will be cited; but it re-
mains to be proved that the Romans were men truly
free ; and their quick paffage from their republican de-
fpotifm to their abjeiSt fertility under rhe emperors, gives
room at leai} for confiderable doubts as to that freedom.
Page 67. («). Akvays tending to concenter the poivc-r m
a fingle hand. It is remarkable, that this has in all in-
Ranees been the conftant progrefs of focieties : beginning
with^ ftate of anarchy or dem^ocracy, that is, with a sreat
divifion of power, they have palled to ariftocracy, and from
arillocracy to monarchy. Docs it not hence follow, that
tbofe who conditute fVates under the democratic form,
dePdne them to undergo all the intervening troubles be-
tv/een that and monarchy ; and that the fupreme adroi-
niftration by a frngle chief is tlie moft natural govern-
ment, as well as thiit beft calculated for peace ?
Page 69. [0). A>id kings follo'wcd the diclates of every
depraved tajle. It is equally worthy of remark, that the
<:ondu6l and manners of princes and kings of every coun-
try and every age, are found to be precifcdy the fame at
Z iimilar
3-^g NOTES.
fimilar period?, whether of the formation or diiTolution of
errrplres. Hiftory every where prefents the fame pictures
of juxury and folly; of parks, gaFde'\-. iakes, rock^^
palaces, furniture, cxccfs of the table^ vvine, woinc] ,
eoneluding with brutality.
The abfurd rock in the gardesi cf Vcrfailles has a' one
coft three millions. I have fometimes calculated whiit
might have been done v.'ith the expence of the three
pyramids of Gitah, and I have found that it would eafily
have ccnftrucled, from the Red Sea to Alexandria, a canal
150 feet wide and 30 deep, completely covered in with
Gut flones and a parapet, together with a fortified and
commercial tov/n, confilling of 400 houfes furnifhed witii
cifterns. What difference in point cf utility between
fuch a canal and thefe pyramids ?
Page 79. {p). By their led horjcs^ oV. A Tartar horfe-
man has always two horfes, cf which he kads one in
hand. . . . The Kalpak is a bonnet made of the fkin of a
fheep or other animal. The part of the head covered by
this bonnet is fnaved, with the exception of a tuft about
the fize cf a crown-piece, and which is fufFered to grow
to the length of itYi^n or eight inches, precifely where
our priefts place their tonfure. It is by this tuft of hair,
worn by the m.ajority of Muliiilmans, that the angel of
the tomb is to take the clcCt and carry them into Para-
^ife.
Page 80. (^). I'ffideh are in pojfejjion of a conjccratcdland.
It IS not in the power of the fultan to cede to a foreign
power a province inhabited by true believers. The
reopie, infligated by the lawyers, would not fail to revolt.
This is one reafon v/hich has led thofe who know th©
^ Turks,
N O T E S. .339
Turks, to regard as chimerical the ceding of Candia,
Cyprus, and Egypt, projected by certain European po-
tentate?.
Pa^e 86. (r). Pronouncing fjiyjlerioujly the "juord Aum.
This v/ord is in the religion of the Hindoos a Ikcred em-
blem of the Divinity. It is only to be pronounced in
fecret, without being heard by any one. It is formed of
three letters, of v.'hich the firft, ^, fignifies the principle of
ail, the creator, Brama j the fecond, u^ the confervator,
Vichenou ; and the lafl, w, the deftroyer, who puts an end
to all, Chiven. It is pronounced like the monofyilable
um, and expreffes the unity of thofe three Gods. The
idea is precifcly that of the Alpha and Omega mentioned
lin the New Teftament.
Page id. (s). IVhether he ought tohegh the ccremcjiy at
the elbo-jjy ^c. 7>ds is one oi the grand points of fchifm
between the partizans of Omar and thofe of Ali. Sup-
pofe two iMahometans to meet on a journey, and to ac-
coil each other with brotherly affediion : the hour of
prayer arrivss; onebeo;ins his ablution at his fingers, the
other at the elbow, and inftantly they are mortal enemies,
O fublime importance of religious opinions ! O profound
philofophy of the authors of them !
Page 99. {t). The horde of Oguzlans. Before the
Turks took th.e name of their chief Othman I. they bore
tliat of Oguzians ; and it was under this appellation that
they were driven out of Tartary by Gengis, and came
from the borders of Gihoua to fettle themfelves in
Anatolia.
Page 100. (.v). A general anarchy takeplace^ as happened
in the empire of the Sophis, In Perfi^ after the death of
Thamas-Koulikan, each province had its chief, and for
Z 2 forty
j4(^ NOTES.
ferry years thefe chiefs were in a conftant ftate of \vzi\
In this view the Turks do not fay without reafon: " Ter*-
" years of a tyrant are leis dcftruilive than a lingls night
" of anarchy."
Page 107. {x). Fro}n people to people harharous wars were
prevalent. Read the hiftory of the w?rs of Rome and
Carthage, of Sparta and MelTina, of Athens and Syracufe^
of the Hebrews and the Phenicians : yet thefe are the na-
tions of which antiquity boalls as being moll: pciifned !
Page 1 14. ( v). The decifion of their difpiites. What is
a people ? An individual of the fociety at large. What
a war ? A duel between two individual people. In what
manner ought a fociety to a(5l when two of its members
fight ? Interfere and reconcile, or reprcfs them. In the
days of the Abbe de Saint- Pierre this was treated as a
dream, but happily for the human race it begins to be
realized.
Page 119. (s). Tlje Chinefe fuhjeSled to an tn/oleni def-
fot'ifm. The emperor of China calls himfelf the fon of
heaven, that is, o^ God ; for in the opinion of the Ch:nefe>
the material heaven, the arbiter of fatality, is the Deity
himfelf. " The emperor only fnows himfdf once in ten
" months, left the people, accuftomied to fee him, might
« lofe their refpeft ; for he holds it as a maxim, that
<' power can only be fuppdrted by force, that the people
" have no idea of juftice, and are not to be governed but
<^ by coercion." Narrative of two Mahometan Travellers
in 851 and 877, tranHated by the Abbe Renaudot ia
1718.
Notwiihftanding what is alTertcd by the miiHoaarles,
this fituation has undergone no change. The bamboo
ftili reigns in China, and the Ton of heaven baftinadcs,
\ ..: . fbr
NOTES. 341
for the moil: trivial fault, the Mandarin, who, in his turn,
bafiinades the people. The Jcfuits may tell us that this
is the bed governed country in the world, and its inha-
bitants the hnppieil of men: but a fingle letter from
Amyot has convinced me, that China is a truly Turkifli
government, and the "account of So^nerat confirms it.
See v^oL LL of Fcyage mix Indes^ in 4to.
Ihe irremediable vice of their language. As long as the
Cbinefe mall in wrirjng make ufe of their prefcnt cha-
ra-s'^ers, they can be expecled to make no progrefs in
civilization. The necefTary introductory flen muft be the
giving them an alphabet like our ov/n, or the fubilituting
in the room of their language that of the Tartars : the
improvement made in the latter by M. dc Lengles, is
calculated to introduce this change. See the A'lantchou
^Iphabetj the produition of a mind truly learned in the
formation of language.
Page I ig. ( I.) In the North I fee nothh-ig hut f erf s re^
duced to the level of cattle. When this was written the
revolution in Poland had not taken place. I hf^ leave to
apologife to the virtuous nobles and the enlightened prince
by whom it was efFeeled.
Page 1 28. (2.) Jnd govern yoivfeljjes. This dialogue
between the people and the indolent clailes, is applicable
to every fociety j it contains the feeds of all the political
vices and diforders that prevail, and which may tnus be
defined ; men who do nothing, and who devour the fub-
flance of others j and m.en who arrogate to themfelves
particular rights and exclufive privileges of wealth and
indolence. Compare the Mamlouks of Egypt, the nobi-
lity of Europe, the Na<rs of India, the Emirs of Arabia,
the Patricians of Rome, the Chriftian clergyj the Imans,
Z 3 the
342 N O T E S.
the Bramins, the Bonzes, the Lamas, kc. kc. an.d you
will find in all the fame characieriftic featurej— " Men
" living in idhneis at the expence of thofe who labour."
Page 13S. (3). Equality and liberty crjufiltute the phyfical
lafis. In the declaration of rights there is an inverfion of
ideas in the firft article, liberty biing placed before equa-
lity from wnich it in reality fprings. This defecl is not
to be wondered at; the fcience of the rights of man is
a ne.v fcience; it was ir.venlcd yeOei-day by the Ameri-
cans, to day the French are perf::<5ting it, but there yet
{litute it there .s a geiioabgical order which, from its
bafis, phyfical equaiiiy, to tne minuti'il: and mofc remote
branches of government, ought to proceed in an unin-
terrup:?d feries of inferences. Tiiis will be demonftraied
in t!]e fecond part of this work.
Page 147. (4.) A vajl hat of the leaves of the ■palm-tree.
This fpccics of the palm-tree is called Latcnicr. Its leaf,
fimiiar to a fan-mount, grows upon a ilalk iiiui.ig dire(51]y
from the earth. A fpecimen may be feen in the botanic
garden-
Pa:;e 1^8. (5.) The contem-pUtion of on: fpeclcs thus in-
finitely "varkd. A hall of coftumas in one of the galleries
of the Louvre, would in every point of view be an in-
terefHng eftaDhriiment : it v/ould furniin an admirable
treat to the curiofitv of a great number of m.en, excellent
models to the artif", and ufeful fubiec5ls of meditation to
the phyr.cian, the philofopner, aiid the legiflaior. Picfure
to vr irfdf a co]Ie6tiorj of the v.:rious faces and figures of
e-eiv country and natinn, exhibiting accurately colour,
features ar.d form : what a field for invefl-igation and en-
quiry as to the influence of cliniatc, manners, aliment.
NOTES. 343
^c. ! It might truly be ilyled the fcience of man ! Buffon
has attempted a chapter of this nature, but it only ferves
to exhibit more ftrikingly our adlual ignorance. Such a
colleftion it is faid is begun at Peterfburg, but it is faid at
the fame time^ to be as imperfect as the vocabulary of
the 300 languages. The euterprize would be worthy of
the French nation.
Page 157, (6). Thus are there jc6ls to the number ofje*
\jenty-two. The MuiTulmans enumerate in common fe-
venty-two feels; but I read, while I i;efided among them,
a work which gave an ^iccQunt of more than eighty, all
equally v/ife and important.
Page id. (7). Has ?iever ceajcdfor twelve hundred year s^
Read the hiftory of Idamifm by its own writers, and you
will be convinced that one of the princip'il caufes of the
wars which have defolated ATia and Africa fmce the days
of Mahomet, has been the apoftolical fanaticifm of its
do61rine. Csefar has been fuppoied to have deftroyed
three millions of men : it would be interefting to make a
fim.ilar calculation refpcding every founder of a religious
fyfcem.
Page 16 r. (8). The NeJlorianSy the Eutycheans^ and a
hundred others. Confult upon this fubje61: D'l^lonnaire
des Herefics -par f Ahhe Piuquet^ in two volumes, 8vo ; a
work admirably calculated to infpire the mind with phi-
lofophy, in the fenfe that the Lacedemonians taught
their children temperance, by fhewing to them the drunken
Heliotes.
Page 163. (9). Difcjpks of Zoroajfer, They are the
Parfes, better known by the opprobrious name of Gaures
or Guebres, another word for infidels. They are in Afia
Z 4 what
344 NOTES.
v'hat t\v.' Jews are in Europe. The name of their pope
or high pried: is Mobed.
Page 164. {jg). Their D^/curs 'y that is to fay, their
priefts. See, re(|oe6ling th-^ ntcs of this rciigion, H-ury
Lord-i Hydcy and the ZendaUijJa, l>;;.Mr coduma if; a robe
with a belt of four knoi>, and a veil over tiie mouth for
fear of polluting the fire with their breath.
Pa-^e id. (11 )• The refityrMiOi: of the bcdy^ or the foi-l^
or hth, I'he Zoroaftrians are dividea between two
opinions, one party believing tliat both (oul and body will
rife, the other, that it will be the foul only. I'he
Chridians and Mahometans have embraced the mod folid
cf the two.
Paire 165. (12). They wear a net over their imiithi^ (Jc,
According to the fyftem of the Metcmpiychci.s, a foul, to
undergo purification, paifes into the bodj of fome infect
or animal. It is of importance not to diif urb this penance,
as the work mufl in that cafe begin afreOi. . . . Paria.
This is the name of a cafl: or tribe r.puted unclean, bc-
caufe they eat of v/hat has enjoyed life.
Page id. ( ; 3). Brhma. — reduced io jervc fis a fcdeflalto
the Lingciin. See Sor.nerat-i Voyage aux Indts. Vol. I.
Page 166. (14}. Hiderus forms of a bcar^ a licn^ (S'c.
Thefe are the incarnations of Yichen^l)u, or metamorphofcs
cf the fun. He is to come at the end of the ^vorld, that
is, at the expiration of the great period, in the form of a
horfe, like the four horfes of the apocalypfe.
Page id. (15). In their deljcticn.^ &c. When a feclary
of Ciiiven hears tb:^ ^ame of Vichencu pronounced, he
ftops his tars, flies, and purifies himftlf.
Page 167. (16). llje Chlneje zuo'/J!::^- him uiukr the name
I
NOTES. 34S
of J^ot. The original name of this God is Balts^ which
iQ Hebrew llgnifies an egg. The Arabs pronounce
in Baidhj g''-'i'-g to the dh an emphatic found which
makes it approach to dz. Kempfer, an accurate travellefj
writes it Budjo^ which muft be pronounced Boudfo^ u'hence
is derived rhc name of Budfoift and of Bonze, applied to
tXiQ prieils. Clement of Alexandria, in his Stromata,
wrices it Bcdou^ as it is pronounced alfo by the Chingulaisj
and Saint Jerome^ Boudd.i and Boutta. At Thibet they
cJl it Budd : and hence the name of the country called
Boud'ian arid Ti-budd: it was in this province that this
fyuem of religion was firft inculcated in Upper Afia;
Ln is a corruption of Allah^ the name of God in the
Syriac language, from which many of the Eaftern dialecSIs
appear to be derived. The Chinefe having neither b nor
//, have fupplied their place bj^/and t^ and have there-
fore faid Font,
Page i68. (17). That the foul can cxiji hdependently of
the fenfes. See in Kempfer the doctrine of the Sintoifts,
which is a mixture of that of Epicurus and of the Stoics.
Page id, (18}. Talipat fcreen. It is a leaf of the La-
tan'ier fpccies of the "palm tree. Hence the Bonzes of
Siam take the appellation of Talapo'ui, The ufe of this
fcrecn is an exclufive privilege.
Page ihg. f '9;. Conjun^i'iGn of the Jlars. The fe6l:aries
of Confucius are no lefs addi6led to aftrology than the
Bonzes. It is indeed the malady of every eaftern na-
tion.
Page /V. (2C). ^e Grand Lama, The Delai-La-May
or immenfe high priefts of La^ is the fame perfon whom
we find mentioned in our old books of travels, by the
name
346 N O T E $.
r.aiiie of Frcfler John, froir. a corruption of the Perfian
^vortl Djchan-t which fignifies the world, to which has
heen prefixed the French word preftre or prc:re, priefl.
Thus the pr'ieji world and the God world are in the Per-
sian idiom the fame.
Page i^/. (21), The excrcmrizts cf their ponfiff. In a
recent expedition, the EngliOi have found certain idols of
ihc Lamas nllcd in the infide with facred paltils from
the clofe-llool of the high-prieil. Mr. Halting?, and
Colonel Pollier who is now at Laufanne, are \W\n^ v/it-
neiTes of this facl, and undoubtedly worthy of credit. It
T/ill be very extraordinary to obfcrvej that this difgufting
ceremony is conne6led vv'ith a profour.d philofophical
fyitcm, to wit, that of the raetempfychofis, admitted by
the Lamas. When the Tartars fwallow thefe facred relics,
v/hich thev are accuiicmed to do, they imitate the laws
of the univerfe, the parts of vv'hich are inceflantly ab-
sorbed and pafs into the fubuance of each other. It is
upon the model of the fci-pent who devours his tail, and
this ferpent is Budd and the world.
Page 170. (22). The hihahita;it ofjiuda,^ oV. It fre-
qiientlv happens, that the fwine devour t!ie very fi:!ecies
of ferpents which the negroes adore, v/hich is a fource
of great defoiation in the country. Prcfident de BrolTes
has given us in his hifl:ory of the Fetiche^ a curious col-
kaion of abfurdities of this nature The Tcleatean
drejfes^ ^c. The Teleuteans, a Tartar nation, paint God
as v.-earlng a veflure of all colours, particularly red and
green i and as thefe connitute the uniform of the Ruliian
dragoons, they compare him to this defcription ot fol-
diers. The Egyptiaiis alio drefs the God Vyorid in -^
o-,3rnien':.
NOTES. 34^
garment of every colour. Eufehius Pr^p. Evang, p, 115.
L 3. The Teleuteans call God Bou^v/hich is only an al-
teration of Boudd, the God Egg and World.
Page id. (2.3). The Kamchadale reprefents God under
the figure of an ill-natured and arbitrary old man. Con-
iult upon thib fi'bjedt a work entitled, Dcfcriptiondez Feu-
pies fomnis a la Riijpy and it will be found that the picture
is not overcharged.
Page 179, (24.) His [an 'in-law Ali^ or his vicars Omar
and Aboubtkre. Thefe are the two grand parties into
which the Mullulmans are divided. The Turks have
embraced the fecond, the Perhans the firft.
V'dgQ 1^2. [^-'^'^. To niaki' war upon infidels. Whatever
the advocates for the philofophy and civilization of the
Turks may aficrc, to :nake war upon infidels is confidered
hy them as an obligatory precept and an ad: of religion.
See Reland de Relig. Moham.
Page 190. (26). Tour fy ft em refls entirely on myflical in-
terpretations. When we read the fathers of the church,
and fee upon what arguments they have built the edifice
of religion, v^^e are inexpreflibly aftonifhed with their
creduliiy, or their knavery ; but allegory was the rage of
that period : the Pagans employed it to explain the a6lions
of their Gods, and the Chriftians adied in the fame fpirit
when they employed it after their falhion.
Page 195. (27). It was not till four hundred years after.
See the Chronology of the Twelve Ages, in which I con-
ceive myfelf to have clearly proved that Mofes lived about
1400 years before Jefus Cbrift, and Zoroafter about a
thoufand.
Page 196. (28). /;; the correBed publication of their facred
hocks. In the iirft periods of the Chriftian church, not
only
343 NOTES.
or.lv the moft learned of thofc who have fince been de-
nominatecl heretics, but many of the ortnodox, cciiceived
Mofes to have v/rltten neither the law nor the Penta-
teuch, but that the work was a compilation made by the
ddcrs of the people and the Seventy, who, nfter the death
of Mofes, coilci^ed his fcattercd ordinances, and mixed
\vith them things that were extraneous ; fimilar to what
happened as to the Koran of ivlahomet. See Les Clemen-
//;/£•.?, Home}. 2. {td^. 51. and Homcl. 3. fe£i 42.
Modern critics, more enlightened or more .ittentivc
than the ancients, have found in Genefis in particular,
marks of its having been compofed on the return from
the captivity; but the principal proofs have efcaped them.
Thtfe I mean to exhibit in an analyfis of the book of
Gcncfis, \n which 1 fnall deinonflratc that the tenth
chapter, among others, which treats of the pretended
generations of the Man called Noah, is a real geographi-
cal pi^iure of the world, as it vras known to the Hebrews
at the epoch of the captivity, which was bounded by
Greece or Kellas at the Weir, mount Caucafus at the
North, Perfia at the Eall, and Arabia and Upp.er Egypt
iit the South. All the pretended perfonages from Adam
to Abraham or his father Terah, are mythological beings,
fiar?, confrellationsj countries. Adam Is Bootes ; Noah
is Ofvris, Xifuthrus Janus, Saturn; that is to fay Capri-
corn, or the celeftial Genius that opened the year. The
Alexandrian Chronicle fays exprefsly, page 85, that
Nimrod was fuppofed by the Perfians to be their firil
king, as having invented the art of hunting, and that he
Vs'as tranflated into heaven, v/here he appears under the
iiame of Orion.
Page 197. (29). Creation of the ivorld infix gahmu, or
periods-.
N O T K S.
349
pericds, or into fix gahan-bars^ that is, fix periods of time.
Thefe periods r,re what Zoroafter calls th<z. ihoujands vf
God or. of lights meaning the fix fuinmer months. In
the £rii, fiy the Pcrfiai:?, God created (arranged in
order) the heav^ens j in the fecond the waters; in the
third the earth ; in the fourth trees ; in the fifth ani-
mals ; and in the fixth. man : correfponding v/ith the
account in Genefis. r For particulars fee Hjdey ch, 9, and
Henry Lcrd^ ch. 2. On the religion of the ancient Perjlan^:.
It is remarkable, that the fame tradition is found in the
facred books of the EtruriaiiS, which relate, " that \k\t
*' Fabricator of all things had cornprifed the duration of
" his work in a period of twelve thoufand years, which
^' period was diftributed to the twelve houfes of the fun."
In the firil thcufand, God made heaven and earth; irx
the fecond, the nrmam.ent 3 in the third, the fea and the
vvaters ; in the fourth, the fun, moon, and ilars ; in the
fifth, isi^ foul of animals, bir4s, and reptiles ; in the fixth,
man. '^q& Suida^-^ at V.\2 \vcy6, Tyrrke7:a', which fhows
iirii, the identity of their theological and aOToloo-icai
opinions ; and fecondly, the identity, or rather confufion
cf ideas, between abfolute and fvfternatical creation, that
is, the periods ailigned for renewing the face of nature^
which were at firil the period cf the year, and afterwards
periods of 60, of 6co, of 25jOOO, of 36,000. and of
432,000 years.
Page 198. (30). Auricular confejion^ ifc. The mo-
dern. Parfes and the ancient Mithriacs, who are the fame
{qc^^ obferve all the Chriftian facraments, even the laying
on of hands in confirmation. " The prieft of Alithra,"
fays Tertullian (de Prcefcriptione, c. 40.) « promifes ab-
"folution ffom fm on confefTion and baptifm ; and, if I
" righti?
35C3 NOTE g.
« rightly remember, Mithra marks the foldiers in the foie-
" head (with the chrifm, called in Egyptian KotiphiJ ; he
" celebrates the lacrifice of bread, v^hich is the refurrec-
" tion, and prefents the crown to his followers, menacing
" them at the fame time with the fvvord, &c.'^
In thefe myfteries they tried the courage of the initiated
with a thoufand terrors, prefci.ting fi;e to his face, a
fword to his breait, &:c. ; they alio offered him a crov/n
which he rcfufed, faying, God is my crown : and this
crown is to l)e fecn in the celeftial fphere by the fide cf
Bootes. The perfonages in thefe myfteries were diftin-
guiftied by the names of the animal conftellations. The
ccrem.ony of mafs is nothing more than an imitation of
thefe myfteries and tl}ofe of Eleufis. The benedidion ths
Lord be luiib you, is a literal tranflation of the formular
of admiftion chon-k, a?}:, p-ak. See BeaJAjob, Hiji, Du
Man'icheijme, vol. ii.
, Page 199. (31). The Vedes^the Chaf.res^and the P oiirans.
Thefe are the facred volumes of the Hindoos ; the}^ are
fometimes written Fedarns, Potiranains^ CbaJJranSy be-
caufe the Hindoos, like the Perfians, are accuftomed to
give a nafal found to the terminations of their words,
which we reprefent by the affixes cri and an, and the
Portuguefe by the affixes C7n and am. Many of thefe
books have been tranflated, thanks to the liberal fpirit of
Mr. Haftings, who has founded at Calcutta a literary
fociety and a printing prefs. At the fame time, how-
ever, that we exprefs our gratitude to this fociety, we
muft be permitted to complain of its cxclufive fpirit, the
number of copies printed of each book being fuch as it is
impoffible to purchafe them even in England j they are
wholly in the hands of the Eaft India proprietors.
Scarcely
NOTE S. 351
Scarcely even is the Afiatic Mifcellany known in Europe,
and a man rnuil be very learned in oriental antiquity be-
fore he (o much as hears of the Jones's, the \Vilkins*s
and the H:ilhed's, Szc, As to ih^ iacrcd books of th.e
Hindoos, all that are yet in our hands are the Bhagvat
Geeta, the Ezour-Vedam, the Bngavadam, and certain
fragments of die Chadres printed at the end of the
Bhagvat Geeta^ Thefe books are in Indoftan what the
Cld and New Teilament are in Chriftendom, the Koraii
in Turkey, the Sad-der and the Zendavefta among the
Parfe?, dcc. When I have taken an cxtenfive furvey of
their contents, I have fometimes af^ed myfelf, what
would be tlie lofs to the human race if a new Omar con-
demned them to the flames | and unable to difcover any
mifchief that would enfue, I call the im^aginary cheft that
contains them, the box of Pandora.
Page 201. (32). Bru?naj Blchen or Viche7ioii^ Ck'ih or
Chivcn. Thefe names are differently pronounced ac-
cording to the difieren: dialecls : thus they fay Birmah^
Brcirrnia^ Brciunci. Blchen has been turned into Vichcr^
\iy the eafy exchange of a -S for a V-^ and into richenou
by means of a grarnniatlcal affix. In the fame manner
Ch'ih-i which is fynonymcus v/ith Satan, and iignifies ad-
veifary, is frequently v/ritten Ch'ib-a and Ckh-ew, he i>
called alfo Roiidcr and Roiitr-en^ that is, the deftroyer.
Page id, (33). In the Jhape of a tortoife. This is the
ccnileliation tcjludo.^ or the lyre^ which was at firft a
toruoife, on account of its P.ow motion round the Pole \
then a lyre, becaufe it is the fhell of this reptile on which
the firings of the lyre are mounted. See an excellent
memoir of M. Duptiis^ fur I'Origine dcs Conjlellathnsy
in ^to,
page 204. (34.). Thai you ha-ve horrovjed the a?2cicnt
FagGnifm
3^2 NOTES.
Pagjn'ifm of the TVeftern world. All the ancient opinion?
of the E^^yptian and Grecian theologians are to be found
in India, and they appear to hai'e been incroduced, by
means of the commerce of Arabia and the vicinity of
Perfia, time immemorial.
Page 205. (35)' Breathed upon the face of the zuaters.
This cofmo!a;ony of the Lamas, the Bonzes, and even the/
Bramins, as Henry Lord afTerts, is literally that of the an-
cient Egyptians. " The Egyptians,'* fays Porphyry, " call
" Knepk^ intelligence, or efncient caufe of the univerfe-
" They relate that this God vomitted an ege, from which
*« vv^as produced another God named Phiha or Vulcan,
**• (igneous principle, or the fun,) and they add, that this
" egg is the world." Eufcb. Prtsp. Evang. p. 115.
" They reprefent," fays the fame author in another
place, "the God Kneph^or efficient caufe, under the form
«^ of a man in deep blue (the colour of the fky), having
" in his hand a fceptre, a belt round his body, and a fmall
^i bonnet royal of light feathers on his head, to denote
" how very fubtile and fugacious the idea of that being
" is." Upon which I ihall obferve, that Kneph in He-
brew fio-nihes a wing, a feather, and that this colour of
fky-blue is to be found in the majority of the Indian Gcds^
and is, under the name of Narayan, one of their uioil
diftinguifhing epithets.
Page 208. (36). Tijat the Lamas ivcre a degenerate f£f
ef the Nejiorians, This is afiertcd by our mifHonaries,
and among others by Georgi in his unfinifhed 'work of
the Thibetan alphabet : but if it can be proved that the
Manicheans were but plagiarids, and the ignorant echo of
a dodrine that exifted fifteen hundred years before them,
what becomes of the declarations of Georgi ? See upon
this fubjea Beaufoh. Hif}. du Mankheijmc,
But
NOTES. 353
But the Lama dmionjirated^ &c. The eaflern writers
in general agree in placing the birth of Bedou 1027 years
before Jefus Chrift, which makes him the cotemporary
of Zoroafter, with whom, in my opinion, they confound
him. It is certain that his doitrine notorioufly exifted
at that epoch : it is found entire in that of Orpheus^
Pythagoras, and the Indian gymnofophifts. But the
gymnofophifts are cited at the time of Alexander as an
ancient lect already divided into Brachmans and Sama*-
ncans. See Bardefanes en Saint yerome^ Ep'itre a 'Jov'iem,
Pythagoras lived in the ninth century before Jefus Chrift ;
See Chronology of the Twelve Ages j and Orpheus is of
Hill greater antiquity. If, as is the cafe, the doctrine of
Pythagoras and that of Orpheus are of Egyptian origin,
that of Bedou goes back to the common fource ; and in
reality the Egyptian priefts recite that Hermes, as he was
dying, faid : " I have hitherto lived an exile from my
" country, to which I now return. Weep not for me,
" I afcend to the celeftial abode, where each of you will
"follow in his turn: there God is: this life is only
" death." Chalcidius in Thimaiim. Such was the profef-
Hon of faith of the Samaneans, the fe6taries of Orpheus,
and the Pythagoreans. Farther, Herm.es is no other
than Bedou himfelf; for among the Indians, Chinefe,
Lamas, &c. the planet Adercury, and the correfponding
day of the week (Wednefday) bear the name of Bedou:
and this accounts for his being placed in the rank of
mythological beings, and difcovers the iJlulion of his
pretended exigence as a man, fmcc it is evident that
Mercury was not a human being, but the Genius or
Decan, who, placed at the fum.mcr folflice, opened the
A a Kgyptiao
354 N O T E ^.
Egyptinn year : hence his attributes taken from th*
conftellation Syrius, and his name of Anubis, as well as
that of Efculapius, having the figure of a man and the
head of a dog : hence his ferpent, which is the Hydraj
emblem of the 'Nile (Hydor, humidity); and from this
ferpent he fecms to have derived his name of Hermes, as
Remes (with z fchln)^ in the oriental languages, fignifies
ferpent. Now Bedou and Hermes being the fame
names, it is manifeft of what antiquity is the fyftem
afcribed to the former. As to the fia^me of Samanean, it
is precifely that of Chaman preferved in Tartary, China,
and India. The interpretation given to it is, man of the
woods^ a hermit mortifying thefefh^ fuch being the charac-
teriftic of this kci ; but its literal meaning is celejlial
(Samaoui), and explains the fyftem of thofe who are
called by it. This fydem is the fame as that of the
fedaries of Orpheus, of the Eilenians, of the ancient
Anchorets of Perfia and the whole Eaftern country. See
Porphyry^ de Abftin. Animal. Thefe celeftial and penitent
men, carried in India their infanlty to fuch an extreme, as
to v/ifli not to touch the earth, and they accordingly
lived in cages fufpended to trees, where the people^
whofe admiration was not lefs abfurd, brought them
provifions. During the night there were frequent rob-
beries, rapes and murders, and it was at length dif-
covered that they were com.mitted by thofe men, who^
defcending from their cages, thus indemnified themfelves
for their reftraint during the day. The Bramins, their
rivals, embraced the opportunity of exterminathig them;
and from that time their name in India has been fynony-
mous with hypocrite. See Hifl, de la Chine^ in 5 vols,
4ta.
NOTES. 355
4to, at the note page 50 ; Hijl, de Huns, 2 vols. ; and
Preface to the Ezour-Fedam,
Page 209. (37). Demonjiratehis exiftence^^c, Thtve
are abfolutely no other monuments of the exiftence of
Jefus Chrift as a human being, thana paflage in Jofephus
{Antiq. Jud. lib. 1 8. c. 3.)? a fmgle phrafe in Tacitus,
[Jnnal, lib. 15. c. 44.), and the Gofpels. But the paflage
in Jofephus is unanimoufly acknowledged to be apocry-
phal, and to have been interpolated towards the clofe of
the third century, {See Trad, de Jojephe^ par M. Gillet) ;
and that of Tacitus is fo vague, and fo evidently taken
from the depofition of the Chriftians before the tribunals,
that it may be ranked in the clafs of evangelical records.
It remains to enquire of v/hat authority are thefe record?,
" All the world knows," fays Fauftus, who, though
a Manichean, was one of the moft learned men of the
third century, " All the world knows, that the Gofpels
" were neither written by Jefus Chrift, nor his apoftles,
" but by certain unknown perfons, who, rightly judging
" that they fhould not obtain belief refpecling things
•' which they had not feen, placed at the head of their
" recitals the names of contemporary apoftles." See
Beaujob. vol. i. and Hift. des Apologiftes de la Relig. Chret.
par Burigni^ a fagacious writer, who has demonftrated
the abfolute uncertainty of thofe foundations of the Chrif-
tian religion, fo that the exiftence of Jefus is no better
proved than that of Ofiris and Hercules, or that of Fot
or Bedou, with whom, fays M. de Guignes, the Chinefe
continually confound him, for they never call Jefus by
any other name than Fot. Hiji. de Huns,
Page id. (38.) Tour Gcfpels are takrnfrom the bochs of
ths Alithriacs* That is to fay, from the pious romances
A a a formed
356 NOTES.
formed out of the facred legends of the Myfteries of
Mithra, Ceres, Ifts, &c.j from whence are equally de-
- rived the books of the Hindoos and the Bonzes. Our
millionaries have long remarked a ftriking refemblance
between thofe books and the Gofpels. M. Wilkins ex-
prefsly mentions it in a note in the Bhagvat-Geeta. All
?.aree that Krifna, Fot, and Jefus, have the fame charac-
teriftic features ^ but religious prejudice has ftood in the
v^ay of drawing from this circuniftance the proper znd
■ natural inference. To time and reafon muft it be left to
-difplay the truth.
Page 210. (39). The interior and fecret doclrine. The
Budfoifts have two dodrines, the one public and often-
lible, the other interior and fee ret, precifely like the
Egyptian priefts. It may be afked, why this dilHndlion ?
It is, that as the public doctrine recommends offerings,
expiations, endowments, he. the priefts find their pro-
fit in teaching it to the people ; v/hereas the other, teach-
ing the vanity of worldly things, and attended with
no lucre, it is thought proper to make it known only to
adepts. Can the teachers and followers of this religion,
•be better claffed than under the heads of knavery and
credulity ?
Page 212. (40). That happinr^fs and mis fortune^ i5fc»
Thefe are the exprcflions of La Loubere, in his de-
fcription of the kingdom of Si am and the theology of the
Bonzes. Their dogmas, compared with thofe of the
;ancient philofophers of Greece and Italy, give a com-
plete reprefcntation of the whole fyfiem of the Stoics and
Epicureans, mixed withaftrological fuperftitions, and fome
traits of Pythagorifm.
Page 224. (41). The original barbarous Jlati^ ofmankivd,
:■: ■■ ,, .:. . -.-■ - It
NOTES. 357
It Is the unanimous teflimony of hiftory, and even of
legends, that the firft human beings were every where
favagesj and that it was to civilize them, and teach
them to make hready that the Gods manifefted them-
felves.
Page jd. (42). Man receives no ideas hut through the me-
dium ofhisfenjes. The rock on which all the ancients have
fplit, and which has occafioned all their errors, has been
their fuppofmg the idea of God to be innate and co-
eternal with the foul j and hence all the reveries developed
in Plato and Jamblicus. See the Timceus^ the Phedon^
and De Myji. Mgyptionm^ fe^. I. c. 3.
Page 231. (43). B.e cord of all the mojiuments of antiquity.
It clearly rcfults, fays Plutarch, from the verfes of
Orpheus and the facred books of the Egyptians and
Phrygians, that the ancient theology, not only of the
Greeks,but of all nations, v/as nothing more than a fyftem of
phyfics, a picture of the operations of nature, wrapped up
in myfterious allegories and enigmatical fymbols, in a
manner that the ignorant multitude attended rather to their
apparent than to their hidden meaning, and even in what
they underftood of the latter, fuppofed there to be fome-
thing more deep than what they perceived. Fragment
of a work of Plutarch now loft^ quoted by Eufebius^ Pra^
par. Evang. lib. 3. ch. 1. p. 83.
The majority of philofophei'S, fays Porphyry, and
among others Chicremon (who lived in Egypt in the
firft age of Chriflianity), imagine there never to have '
been any other world than the one we fee, and acknow-
ledge no other Gods of all thofe recognized by the
Egyptians, than fuch as are commonly called planets,
%ns of the Zodiac, and conftellations \ whofe afpeds,
~ A a 3 that
358 NOTES.
that is, rifing and fetting, are fuppofed to influence the
fortunes of men ; to which they add, their divifions of the
figns into decans and difpenfers of time, whom they flyie
lords of the afcendant, whofe names, virtues in the re-
lieving diftempers, rifmg, fetting, and prefages of future
events, are the fubjecls of almanacks ; (for be it obferved,
that the Egyptian priefts had almanacks the exacSt counter-
part of Matthew LanilDerg's) for when the priefts
affirmed that the fun was the architect of the imiverfe,
Chaeremon prefently concludes that all their narratives
refpecling Ifis and Ohris, together with their other facred
fables, referred in part to the planets, the phafes of
the moon, and the revolution of the fun, and in part to
the flars of the daily and nightly hemifpheres and the
river Nile ; in a word, in all cafes to phyfical and natural
exiflences, and never to fucli as might be immaterial and
incorporeal. ... All thefe philofophers believe, that the
acts of our v/ill, and the motion of our bodies, depend
upon thofe of the ftars to which they are fubjeded, and
they refer every thing tq the laws of phyfical necefiity,
which they call dediny or Fatum^ fuppofing a chain of
caufes and effects which binds, by I know not what con-
nection, all beings together, from the meanell atom to
the fiipreme power and primary influence of the Gods ;
fo that, v/hether in their temples or in their idols, the
only fubject of worfhip is the pov/er of deftiny. For-
phyr. Epiji, ad yanebonem.
Page 232. (44). 7 he pra^Ace of agriculture required the
ohfervaiian and knowUdge of the heavens. It continues to be
repeated every day, on the indirect authority of the book
of Gene. iS, that aftronomy was the invention of the chil-
dren of Noah. It has been gravely faid, that, while
jl v wandering
/
NOTES. 359
wandering fhepherds in the plains of Shinar, they em-
ployed their leifure in compofing a planetary fyftem : as
if fliepherds had occafion to know more than the Polar
ilar, and if necefTity was not the fole motive of every in-
vention ! If the ancient fliepherds w^.ere fo ftudious and
fagacious, how does it happen that the modern ones are
fo ftupid, ignorant, and inattentive ? And it is a fadl, that
the Arabs of the defer! know not fo many as fix conftel-
lations, and underftand not a word of aftronomy.
Page 233. (45). Geniiy Gods^ authors of good and evih
It appears that by the words genius, the ancients denoted
a quality, a generative power ; for the following words,
which are all of one family, convey this meaning : gene^
rary^ genos^ genefis^ genus, ge?is.
The Sabeans, ancient and modern, fays MaimonldeSj
acknov/ledge a principal God, the maker and inhabitant
of heaven; but on account of his great diftance they con-
<:eive him to be inacceffible ; and in imitation of the
conduct of people towards their kings, they employ as
mediators with him, the planets and their angels, v/hom
they call princes and potentates, and whom they fuppo.fe
to refide in thofe luminous bodies as in palaces or taber-
nacles, &c. More-Neb uchim^ pars 3. c. 29.
Page 234.. (46}. And even afex derived from the gender
of its appellation. According as the gender of the obje^l
was in the language of the nation mafculine or feminine,
the Divinity who bore its name was male or fetfiale.
Thus the Cappadocians called the moon God, and the
fun Goddefs ; a circumftance which gives to the fame
beings a perpetual variety in ancient mythology.
Page 235. (47). Morality was a judicious pra^ice of all
that is conducive to the prefervaiion of e:(i/lenfe* We may
A a 4 add,
36o NOTES.
add, fays Plutarch, that thefe Egyptian priells always re-
garded the prefervation of health as a point of firft im-
portance, and as indifpenfably necefiary to the practice of
piety and the fervice of the Gods. See his account of
Ifis and Ofj-'is^ towards the end.
Page id. (48}. That its principles (thofe of aftronomy),
can he traced back to a period of ly ^000 years. The hiftori-
cal orator follows here the opinion of Mr. Dupuis, who, in
his learned memoir concerning the origin of the conftel-
lations, has affigned many plaufible reafons to prove that
Libra was formerly the fign of the vernal, and Aries of the
nocturnal equinox ; that is, that fmce the origin o^ the
adtual aftronomical fyilem, the proceffion of the equi-
Tioxes has carried forward by fevcn figns the primitive
order of the Zodiac. Now eftimating the proceiTion at
about feventy years and a half to a degree, that i'S 2,115
years to each fign ; and obferving that Jrics was in
its fifteenth degree, 1,447 years before Chrifr, it fo!-
lov/s, that the firil cegrce of Libra could not have eoin-
cided with the vernal equinox more lately than 15,194
years before Chrifr, to which if you add 1790 years fmce
ChriR-, it appears that 16,984 have elapfed fmce the
origin of the Zodiac. The vernal equinox coincided with
the fird degree of Jrics 2,504. years before Chrift, and
TA'ith the firll degree of Taurus 4,619 years before Chrifl-.
Now it is to be obferved, that the worfiiip of ihe Bull is
the principal article in the theological creed of the Egyp-
tians, Pernans, Japanefe, &c.; from whence it clearly
follows, that fom.e general revolution took place among
thofe nations at that time. The chronology of live or
fix thoufand years in Genefis is little agreeable to this
hypothcfis j but as the book of Genefis cannot claim to
be
NOTES. 361
be confidered as a hiflory farther back than Abraham,
we are at hberfy to make what arrangements we pleafe
in the eternity that preceded.
Page id. (49). When reafon finds there a zone of heaven
equally free from the rains of the equator and the fogs of the
North, Mr. Bailli, in placing the firft aftronomers at
Selingenfkoy, near the lake Baikal, paid no attention to
this twofold circumflance: It equally argues againft their
being placed at Axoum on account of the rains, and th«
Zi?nh fly of which Mr. Bruce fpeaks.
Page 238. (50). Men gave to the Jlars^ ^c. « The
'^ ancients," fays Maimonides, " direding all their at-
*' teniion to agriculture, gave names to the ftars derived
" from their occupation during the year.'* More Neb.
pars 3.
Page 240. (51). They call hy the name of ferpents the-
figured traces of the orbits. The ancients had verbs from
the fubftantlves crah^ goaty tortoife, as the French have at
prefent the Y^rhsferpenter^ coquetier. The hiftory of aU^
languages is nearly the fame.
Page 243. (52). If they had not feen in them talifmans
partaking of the nature ofthejlars. The ancient aftrolo-
gers, fays the moft learned of the Jews (Maimonides)^
having facredly alligned to each planet a colour, an ani-
mal, a tree, a metal, a fruit, a plant, formed from them
all a figure or reprefentation of the ftar, taking care to
fele6l for the purpofe a proper moment, a fortunate day,
fuch as the conjunction of the ftar, or fome other favour-
able afpe6t. They conceived, that by their magic cere-
monies they could introduce into thofe figures or idols
the influences of the fuperlor beifigs after which they
were modelled. Tbefe v/ere the idols that the Chaldean-
Sabeans
362 NOTES.
Sabeans adored 5 and in the performance of their wor-
fliip they were obliged to be drelTed in the proper co«
lour. . . . The aftrologers, by their practices, thus in*
tfoduced idolatry, defirous of being regarded as the
difpenfers of the favours of heaven j and as agriculture
was the fole employment of the ancients, they fucceeded
in perfuading them, that the rain and other bleflings of
the feafons were at their difpofal. Thus the whole art
of agriculture was exercifed by rules of aftrology, and the
priefts made taliiinans or charms which were to drive
away locufts, flies, &c. See Maijmnides<^ Morcy Nehuchm^
pars 3. c. 29.
The priefts of Egypt, Perfia, India, &c. pretended to
bind the Gods to their idols, and to make them come
from heaven at their pleafure. They threatened the fun
and moon, if they were difobedient, to reveal the fecret
myfteries, to fliake the Ikies, &c. &c. Ei^feb. Fracep.
Bvang. p. 198, and Jamblicus de Myjierns Mgypt.
Page /V. ( 5 3 ) . The fun was fuppojed to a [fume their for m$
(the forms of the twelve animals). Thefe are the very
words of lamblicus de Symbolis iEgyptiorum, c. 2. fe61:. 7,
(The fun was the grand Proteus, the univerfal meta-
morphift.
Page 245. ( 54). Tour tonfure is the difk of the fun. The
Arabs, fays Herodotus, (have their heads in a circle and
about the temples, in imitation of Bacchus (that is the
fun,) who fhaves himfelf, they fay, in this manner. Jere-
miah fpeaks alfo of this cuftom. The tuft of hair which
the Mahometans preferve, is taken alfo from the fun,
who was painted by the Egyptians at the winter folftice,
as having but a fingle hair on his head. , . . Tour fiole its
Xodiac* The robes of the goddefs of Syria and of Diana
of
NOTES. 365
of Ephefus, from whence are borrowed the drefs of
priells, have the twelve ?nimals of the Zodiac painted on
them Rofaries are found upon all the Indian idols,
conftru6ted more than four thoufand years ago ; and
their ufe in the Eaft has been univerfal for time imme-
morial.- .... The crofier is precifely the ftafF of Bootes
or Ofiris (See Plate II.) All the Lamas wear the 7mtre
or cap in the fhape of a cone, which was an emblem of
the fun.
Page 247. ( 55. ) Having fald that a pla?iet entered into a
Jign^ their conjunBlon was denominated a marriage^ Sec.
Thcfe are the very words of Plutarch in his account of
Ifis and Oilris. The Hebrews fay, m fpeaking of the ge-
nerations of the Patriarchs, et Ingrejfus eji in earn. From
this continual equivoque of ancient language, proceeds
every mifi-ake.
Page 248. (56). The combination of thefe figures had alfo
a meaning. The reader will doubtlefs fee, with pleafure,
fome examples of ancient hieroglyphics.
" The Egyptians (fays Hor-appoloJ reprefent eternity
hy the figure of the fun and moon. They defignate the
world by a blue ferpent with yellow fcales (ftars, it is the
Chinefe Dragon ). if they were defirous of expreiling the
year, they drew a pi61:ure of IfiS, who is alfo in their
language called Sothls, or dog-ftar, one of the iirfl: con-
ftellations, by the rifmg of which the year commences ;
its infcription at Sais was, // is I that rife In the condella-*
tlon of the Dog,
" They alfo reprefent the year by a palm-tree, and the
month by one of its branches^ becaufe it is the nature of
this tree to produce a branch every month. They farther
reprefent it by the fourth part of an acre of land." (The
whole
364 NOTES.
whole acre divided into four denotes the bificxtile period
of four years. The abbreviation of this figure of a field
in four divifions, is rrianifcftly the letter hd or hcty the
feventh in the Samaritan alphabet ; and in general all
the letters of the alphabet are merely aftronomical hiero-
glyphics : and it is for this rcafon that the mode of
ivriting is from right to left, like the march of the flars).
- — " They denote a prophet by the image of a dog^ be-
caufe the dog-xlar (Anoubis) by its rifmg gives notice of
the inundation. Noiihi in Hebrew fignifics prophet. —
They repcefcnt inundation by a lion, becaufe it takes
place under that fign : and hence, fays Pkitarch, the
cuflom of placino; at the gates of temples figures of lions
with water iffuing from their mouths. — They express the
idea of God and Deftiny by a flar. Iliey alfo reprefent
God, fays Porphyry, by a black flone, becaufe his nature
is dai'k and obfcure. All white things exprefs iheceleilial
and luminous Gods : all circular ones the world, the
moon, the fun, the deflinies : all Itmicircular ones, as bows
and crefccnts, are alfo defcriptive of the moon. Fire and
the Gods of Olympus, they reprefent by pyramids and
obelifks : (the name of the fun Baal is found in this
latter word) : the fun, by a cone (the mitre of Ofiris) :
the earth, by a cylinder (which revolves) : the generative
power of the air, by the plains^ and that of the earth, by
a triangle, emblem of the female organ. Eufib. Prcrccp.
Evang. p. 98.
« Clay (lays lamblicus de Symbolis, fed. 7. c. 2.) de-
notes m.attcr, the gencrati^'c and nutrimental power, every
tiling which receives the warmth and fermentation of life.
" A man fitting upon the Lotes or Nenuphar^ reprefents
the moving fpirit (the fun), which, in like manner as
the
NOTES. 3&5
the plant lives in the water without any communication
with clay, exifls equally diftincSt from matter, fwimming
in empty fpace, refling on itfelf ; it is round alfo in all
its parts like the leaves, the flowers and the fruit of the
Lotos. (Brama has the eyes of the Lotos, fays Charter
Neadirfen, to denote bis intelligence : his eye fwims over
every thing, like the flov/ers of the Lotos on the waters).
A man at the helm of a (hip, adds lamblicus, is defcriptive
of the fun which governs all. And Porphyry tells us, that
the fun is alfo reprefented by a man in a fhip refting upon
an amphibious crocodile (emblem of air and water).
" At Elephantine they worfhipped the figure of a man
in a fitting pofture, painted blue, having the head of a ram,
and the horns of a goat which encompafled a difk ; all
which reprefented the fun and moon's conjun6lion at the
fign of the ram ; the blue colour denoting the power of
the moon at the period of junction, to raife water into
clouds. Eufch. Pracep, Evang, p. ii6.
*' The hav/k is an emblem of the fun and of light, on
account of his rapid flight, and his foaring into the highcfl
regions of the air where light abounds.
" A fi(h is the emblem of averfion, and the Hippopota^
mus of violence, becaufe it is faid to kill its father and ra-
vifli its mother. Hence, fays Plutarch, the emblematical
infcription of the temple of Sais, where we fee painted on
the veftibule, I. A child. 2. An old man. 3. A hawk.
4. A fifli. 5. A hippopotamus; which fignify, i. Entrance
(into life). 2. Departure. 3. God. 4. Hatred. 5. Li-
juftice. (See Ifis ^ Ofirh).
« The Egyptians, adds he, reprefent the world by
a Scarabeus, becaufe this infecl pufhes, in a diredion con-
trary
365 K O T E S.
trary to that in which it proceeds, a ball containing its?
co-gs, juft as the heaven of the fixed flars caufcs the revo-
lution of the fun (the yolk of an egg) in an oppofite di-
rection to its own.
" They reprefent the world alfo by the number five^
beino' that of the elements, which, fays Diodorus, are
earth, water, air, fire, and ether ox Jp'iriius, The Indians
have the fame number of elements, and according to
Macrobius's Myftics they are the fupreme God, or pri
mwn mobile^ the intelligence, or mem^ born of him, the
foul of the world v/hich proceeds from him, the celeftial
fpheres and all things terreftrial. Hence, adds Plu-
tarch, the analogy between the Greek ^ente^ five, and
'pan-y all.
" The afs,'* fays he again, " is the emblem ofTyphon,
becaijfe like that animal he is of a reddifh colour. Now
Tvphon fignifies whatever is of a mirey or clayey nature ;
(and in Hebrew I find the three words, clay^ red^ and ajs^
to be formed from the fame rooty ha7nr, laTjiblicus has
farther told us, that clay was the emblem of matter ; and
he elfewhere adds, that all evil and corruption proceeded
from matter : which, compared with the phrafe of Ma^
crobius, all is perijhable^ liable to change in the celeftial
fphere, gives us the theory, firft phyfical, then moral, of
the fyftcm of good and evil of the ancients/*
Page 252.(57). Thefenfel.cfs caufe cffiiperjlitlrjn. Thefe
are properly the v/ords of Plutarch, who relates, that
thofe various worfbips v/ere given by a king of Egypt to
the different towns to difunite and enflave them (and
thefe kings had been taken from the caft of priells). See
Ifis ^ Gfirls,
Page
NOTES. 26f
Page 255.(58). In the projeSllon of the celejllalfphere^
The ancient priefts had three kind of fpheres, which it
may be ufeful to make known to the reader.
" We read in Eufebius," fays Porphyry, « that Zo-
roafter was the firft who, having fixed upon a cavern
pleafantly fituated in the mountains adjacent to Perfia,
formed the idea of confecrating it to Mithra (the fun)
creator and father of all things : that is to fay, having
made in this cavern feveral geometrical divifions, repre-
fenting the feafons and the elements, he imitated on a
fmall fcale the order and difpofition of the univerfe by
Mithra. After Zoroafter, it became a cuftom to confe-
crate caverns for the celebration of myfteries : fo that in
like manner as temples v/ere dedicated to the Gods,
rural altars to heroes and terreflrial deities, &c. fubterra-
neous abodes to infernal deities, fo caverns and grottoes
v/ere confecrated to the world, to the univerfe, and to the
nymphs : and from hence Pythagoras and Plato borrowed
i^Q idea of calling the earth a cavern, a cave, de Antn
Nymph arum J'*
Such was the firfl: projection of the fphere in relief:
though tlie Perfians give the honour of the invention to
Zoroafter, it is doubtlefs due to the Egyptians : for
we may fuppofe, from this projecStion being the moft
fimple, that it was the moft ancient; the caverns of.
Thebes, full of fimilar pictures, tend to ftrengthsn this
opinion.
The following was the fecond proje6llon, " The pro-
phets or hierophants," fays Biihop Synnefius, " who had
been initiated in the myfteries, do not permit the com-
mon workmen to form idols or images of the Gods j but
they dffcend themfelves into the facred caves, where
they
368 \ NOT E S.
they have concealed cofters containing certain fphci'es,
upon uhich they conflruct thofe images fccretly and
without the knowledge of the people, who defpife fimple
and natural things, and wifh for prodigies and fables.'*
[Syn, in Calvit.) That is, the ancient priefts had armil-
lary fpheres like ours ; and this palTage, which fo well
agrees with that of Cha^remon, gives us the key to all
their theological aflrology.
' Laftly, they had flat imdels of the nature of Plate II.
with this difference, that they were of a very complicated
nature, having every fictitious divifion of decan and fub-
decan, with the hieroglyphic figns of their influence.
Kircher has given us a copy of one of them in his Egyp-
tian CEdipus, and Gybelin a figured fragment in his
book of the calendar ( under the name of the Egyptian
Zodiac). The ancient Egyptians, fays the ailrologer
Julius Firmicus [AjJron. lib. ii. and lib. iv. c, i6). divide
each fign of the Zodiac into three feitions; and each
fe6tion was under the direction of an imaginary being,
whom they called Decan^ or chief of ten \ fo that there
were three Decans a month, and thirty- three a year.
Now thefe Decans, who were alfo called Gods [fThoi)^
regulate the deftinies of mankind — and they were placed
particularly in certain ftars. They afterward^ imagined
in every ten three other Gods, whom they called arbiters j
fo that there were nine for every month, and thefe were
farther divided into an infinite number of powers. (The
Perfians and Indians made their fpheres on fimilar plans ;
and if a picture thereof were to be drav/n from the de-
fcription given by Scaliger at the end of Manilius, we
ihould find in it a complete explanation of their hierogly-
phics, for every article forms one).
■■ . . . ■ Pago
NOTES. 36^
Page id. (59 ) The adverfe Genii, It . was for this
reafon the Perlians always wrote the name of Ahranaiies
inverted thus : •saiiBuiuijy
Page 256. (60). Typbon^ that is~to fay deluge. Typhon,
pronounced Touphon by the Greeks, is precifely the
touphan of the Arabs, which fignlfics deluge ; and thefe
deluges in mythology are nothing more than winter and
the rains, or the overflowing of the Nile; as their pre-
tended fires which are to deftroy the world, are fimply
the fummer feafon. And it is for this reafon that Ari-
ftotle {^De Meteor, lib, I. c. xiv.), fiys, that the v/inter of
the great cyclic year is a deluge ; and its fummer a con-
flagration. '• The Egyptians, fays Porphyry, " em-
ploy every year a talifman in remembrance of the world :
at the fummer folftice they mark their houfes, flocks
and trees with red, fuppofmg tbat on that day the whole
world had been fet on fire. It was alfo at the fame
period that they celebrated the pyrric or fire dance."
(And this illuftrates the origin of purifications by fire
and by water : for having denominated the tropic of
Cancer the gate of heaven, and of genial heat orcelefiial
fire, and that of Capricorn the gate of deluge or of water,
it was imagined that the ij^irits or fouls who pafTe^
through thefe gates in their way to and from heaven,
were roajied or bathed : hence the baptifm of Mithra, und
the pafiage through flames, obferved throughout the Eaft
long before Mofes).
Page id. (61). In Perfia in a fubfequent period. That is,
when the ram became the equiiioxial fign, or rather when
the alteration of the Ikies (hewed that it was no longer the
Bull. See Note 48.
Bb Pag©
570 NOTE S.
Page 257. (.^2). Whence are derived all religious aBi
af a gay nature. All the ancient feftivals refpeding the
return and exaltation of the fun were of this defcription :
hence the hilaria of the Roman calendar at the period of
thepafiage (Pafcha) of the vernal equinox. The dances
were imitations of the march of the planets. Thofe of
the Dervifes (iiill reprcfent it ta this day.
Page 258. (63). All religioui a£is of the fo7nhre kind,
«' Sacrifices of blood/' fays Porphyry, " were only offered
fco Demons and evil Genii to avert their wrath. . . Demons
are fond of blood, humidity, ftench." Apud. Eufeb. Prap,
Ev.p. 173.
*' The Egyptians," fays Plutarch, "only offer bloody vic-
tims to Typhon. They facrifice to him a red ox, and the
animal immolated is held in execration^ and loaded with all
the fms of the people." (The goat of Mofes). See Ij^s-
and Ofiris.
Divifion af terrejhlal beings into pure and impure^ fa-
cred and abo?mnabU. Strabo fays, fpeaking of Mofes
and the Jews, " Circumcifion and the prohibition of
certain kinds of meat fprung from fuperflitLon." — And
I obfcrve, Fe^e6ting the ceremony of circumcifion, that
its objed was to take from the fymbol of Ofiris [Phal-
lus) the pretended obffacle to f.cundity j an obfiacle
which bore the feal of Typhon, " whofe nature," fays
Plutarch, *'* is made up of all that hinders^ fppofesy caufes
ohjirudion.'*^
Page 260. (64). Elyftan-fields: Aliz, in the Pheniciam
or Hebrew language fignifies dancing and joyous.
Page 262. (65). The Milky way. $qq Mac?'ob, Sofn^
Scip^ c. I2i and Note (78}.
Pas9
NOTES. 371
Page 265. (66). The bodies of its inhahitanis edft no
Jhade^ There is on this fubje^l a pafTage in Plutarch, {o
interefting and explanatory of the whole of this fyftem,
that we fhall cite it entire. Having obferved that the
theory of good and evil had at all times occupied the atten-
tion of philofophers and theologians, he adds : " Many
fuppofe there to be tv/o Gods of oppofite inclinations, one
delighting in good the other in evil ; the firft of thefe is
called particularly by the name of God, the fecond by that
of Genius or Demon. Zoroafrer has denominated them
Oromaze and Ahrimanes, and has faid that, of whatever
falls under the cognizance of our fenfes, light is the beft
reprefentation of the one, and darknefs and ignorance of
the other. He adds, that Mithra is an intermediate be-
ing, and it is for this reafon the Perfians call Mithra the
vudiator or intermediator. Each of thefe Gods has diftin6^
plants and animals confecrated to him; for example, dogs,
birds and hedge-hogs belong to the good Genius, and all
aquatic animals to the evil one.
*' The Perfians alfo fay, that Oromaze was born or
formed out of the pureft light; Ahrimanes, on the contrary,
out of the thickeft darknefs: that Oromaze made Hx Gods
as good as himfelF, and Ahrimanes oppofed to them fix
wicked ones : that Oromaze afterwards multiplied himfelf
threefold (Hermes trifmegiflus), and removed to a diftance
as remote from the fun as the fun is remote from the earth;
that he there formed ftars, and, among others, Syrius^
which he placed in the heavens as a guard and centinel.
He made alfo twenty-four other Gods, which he inclofed
in an egg; but Ahrimanes created an equal number on his
part, who broke the egg, and from that moment good and
evil were mixed (In the univerfe). But Ahrimanes is
B b 2 on«
372 NOTE S.
one day to be conquered, and the earth to be made equal
zndfmootby that all men may live happy.
Theopompus adds, from the books of the Magi, that
one of thefe Gods reigns in turn every three thoufand
years, during u^hich the other is kept in fubjeftion ; that
they afterwards contend with equal weapons, during a fimi-
lar portion of time, but that in the end the evil Genius
will fall (never to rife again). Then m.en will become hap-
py, and their bodies caft no fhade. The God who mediates
all thefe things reclines at prefent in repofe, waiting till he
fhall be pleafed to execute them." See IJts and Ofirts.
There is an apparent allegory through the whole of this
pafTage. The egg is the fixed fphere, the world; the fix
Gods of Oromaze are the fix figns of fum.mer, thofe of
Ahrimanes the fix figns of winter.. The forty-eight other
Gods are the forty-eight conftellations of the ancient fphere,
divided equally between Ahrimanes and Oromaze. The
office of Syrius^ as guard and centinel, tells us that the
origin of thefe ideas was Egyptian : finally, the expreffiou
that the earth is to become equal 2c,\d, fmooth^ and that. the
bodies of happy beings are to caft no fhade, proves that
tiie equator was confidercd as their true paradife.
Page 265. (67 j. The ca^je of Mithra. See Note (58).
In the caves which priefts every v/here conftrucled, they
celebrated myfteries which confifted (fays Origen againft
Celfus) in imitating the motion of the frars, the planets,
and the heavens. The initiated took the name of conflel-
lations and afTumed the figures of animals. One was a
lion, another a raven, and a third a ram. Hence the ufe of
mafics in the firfl reprefentation of the drama. See Ant,
Devo'iU^ vol. ii. p. 244. " In the myfleries of Ceres the
chisf in tlie procellion called himfelf the cr|ator j the bearer
NOTES. 373
€)i the torch v/as denominated the fun ; the perfon near-
eft to the altar, the moon ; the herald or deacon, Mercury.
In Egypt there was a feftival in which the men and wo-
men reprefented the year, the age, the feafons, the different
parts of the day, and they walked in proceilion after Bac-
chus. Jthen. lib. v. c. 7. In the cave of Mithra was a
ladder with kven fteps, reprefenting the feven fpheres of
the planets, by means of which fouls afcended and de-
fcended. This is precifely the ladder in Jacob's vifion,
which fhows that at that epocha the whole fyftem was
formed. There is in the French king's library a fuperb
volume of pictures of the Indian Gods, in which the lad-
der is reprefented with the fouls of men mounting it."
Page 267. (68). Exa^ calculation, Confultthe ancient
aftronomy of M. Bailly, and you will find our aflfertions
refpe61:ing the knowledge of the priefts amply proved.
Page 269. (69). A reciprocal connection. Thefe are the
very words of Jamblicus. De My ft, Mgypt,
. Page zV. (70.) Or rather ek^rical fluid. The more I
confider what the ancients underftood by ether ^ and
Jpirii-i and what the Indians call akache^ the ftrongtr do
I find the analogy between it and ele61:rical fluid. A
luminous fluid, principle of warmth and rhotion, per-
vading the univerfe, forming the matter of the ftars,
having fmall round particles, which infinuate themfelves
into bodies, and fill them by dilating itfelf, be their ex-
tent what it will, what can more ftrongly refemble elec-
tricity ?
Page id. (71.) Wasfuppofed to have the fun for its heart »
Natural phllofophers, fays Macrobius, call the fun the
heart of the world. Som. Scip. c. 20. The Egyptian?,
fays Plutarch, call the Eaft the/^^^, the North the right-
B b 3 ftde^
374 NOTES.
fide^ and the South the lefuftde of the world, becaufe there
the heart is placed. They continually compare the uni-
verfe to a man ; and hence the celebrated microcofm of
the Alchymifts. We obferve by the by, that the Alchy-
mifts, Cabalifts, Free-mafons, Magnetifers, Martinifts,
and every other fuch Tort of vifionaries, are but the mif-
taken difciples of this ancient fchool : we fay miftaken,
becaufe, in fpite of their pretenfions, the thread of the
occult fcience is broken.
Page id. (72). That the world was eternal. See the
Pythagorean Ocellus Lucanus.
Page 270. (73)» The Orphic egg. This comparifon of
the fun with the yolk of an egg refers, i. To its round
and yellow figure j 2. To its central fituation j 3. To
the germ or principle of life contained in the yolk. May
not the oval form of the egg allude to the elipfis of the
orbs ? I am inclined to this opinion. The word Orphic
oiFers a farther obfervation. Macroblus fays {^^om. Scip,
c. 14. and c. 20), that the fun is the brain of the univerfe,
and that it is from analogy that the fkuU of a human
being is round, like the planet, the feat of intelligence.
Now the word Orph (with ain) fignifies in Hebrew
the brain and its feat i^cermx) : Orpheus, then, is the fame
as Bedou, or Baits ; and the Bonzes are thofe veiy
Orphics which Plutarch reprefents as quacks, who ate
no meat, vended talifmans, and little flones, and de-
ceived individuals, and even governments themfelves.
See a learned Memoir of Freret fur les Orphiqiies^ Jcad,
lies Infer Ip. vol. 23. in ^to.
Page id. (74). JVearing on his head a fphere of gold.
^ee Porphyry in Eufehiui^ Prap. Evang. lib. 3. />. 1 1 5.
Page 271. (75). Alluding to the wind. The Northern
or
NOTES. 375
#r Elejlan wind, which commences regularly at the folftice,
with the inundation.
Page 272. {76). Ton-flier, This is the true pronun-
ciation of the Jupiter of the Latins. . . . Exijience ttfelf*
This is the fignification of the word You. See Note (84).
Page 273. (77). inducing the great egg. See Note (35).
Pagez^^ (7^)* The immortality ofthefouly whkh utjirft
was eternity. In the fyftem of the firft fpiritualifts, the
foul was not created with, or at the fame time as the body,
in order to be inferted in it : its exiftence was fuppofed
to be anterior and from all eternity. Such, in a few
words, is the dodirine of Macrobius on this head. Som,
Scip. pajjim,
" There exifts a luminous, igneous, fubtle fluid, which,
under the name of ether and fpiritus, fills the univerfe.
It is the elTential principle and agent of motion and life,
it is the Deity. When an earthly body is to be animated,
a fmall round particle of this fluid gravitates through the
milky way towards the lunar fphere, where, when it
arrives, it unites with a grofler air, and becomes fit to
afibciate with matter : it then enters and entirely fills
the body, animates it, fufFers, grows, increafes, and dimi-
nlfhes with it ; laftly, when the body dies, and its grofs
elements dlflblve, this incorruptible particle takes its leave
of it, and returns to the grand ocean of ether, if not
retained by its union with the lunar air: it is this
air or gas, which, retaining the {bape of the body, be-
comes a phantom or ghoft, the perfe£^ reprefentation of
the deceafed. The Greeks called this phantom the image
or idol of the foul i the Pythagoreans, its chariot, its
frame; and the Rabbinical fchool, its veflel, or boat. When
a man had conduded himfelf well in this world, his
B b 4 whole
37$ NOTE S.
whole foul, that is, its chariot and ether, afcended to the
rnoon, where a reparation took place : the chariot lived in
the lunar Elyfium, and the ether returned to the fixed
fphere, that is, to God : for the fixed heaven, fays Ma-
crobius, vi^as by many called by the name of God (c. 14..)
If a man had not lived virtuoufly, the foul remained on
earth to undergo purification, and vi^as to u^ander to and
fro, like the ghofts of Homer, to whom this do6trine
muft have been known, fince he wrote after the time of
Pherecydes and Pythagoras, v/ho were is promulgators
in Greece. Heredotus, up6n this occafion, fays, that the
whole romance at the foul and its tranfmigrations was
invented by the Egyptians, and propagated in Greece by
men, v/ho pretended to be its authors. I know their
names, adds he, but fhall not mention them (///>. 2.).
Cicero, however has pofitively informed us, that it was
Pherecydes, mafter of Pythagoras. Tnfiid. lib. i,JeSi. 16.
Now admitting that this fyftem was at that period a
novelty, it accounts for Solomon's treating it as a fable,
who lived 130 years before Pherecydes. " Who know-
eth," fays he, " the fpirit of a man that it goeth up-
wards ? I faid in my heart concerning the eftate of the
fons of men, that God might manifeft them, and that
they might fee that they themfelves are beafis. For that
which b>^falleth the fCns of men, befalleth beafts ; even
one thing befalleth them ; as the one dieth, fo dieth the
other ; yea they have all one breath, fo that a man hath
no pre-eminence above a beail: : for all is vanity." Eccles*
c. iii- v. 18.
And fuch had been the opinion of Mofes, as a tranf-
lator of Herodotus (M. Archer of the Academy of In-
fcripticns), iullly obfcrves- in note 389 of me fecond book,
, i . . v/here
NOTES. 377
•where he fays alfo, that the immortality of the foul was
not introduced among the Hebrews till their intercourfe
with the AfTyrians. In other refpeiSls, the whole Pytha-
gorean fyftem, properly analyfed, appears to be merely a
fyftem of phyfics badly underftood.
Page 275. (79). T^he world is a inachine ', it has there'-
fore an artificer. All the arguments of the fpiritualifts are
founded on this. See Macrobius^ at the end of the fecond
book, and Plato^ with the comments of Marciliui Fi-
cinus.
Page 276. (80). The demi-ourgos,the logosjandthefpl'
rit. Thefe are the real types of the Chriftian Trinity.
See Note (99).
Page 277. (81). Its very names. In our laft analy-
fis we found all the names of the Deity to be derived
from fome material obje6l in which it was fuppofed to
refide. We have given a confiderable number of in-
ftances; let us add one more relative to our word God,
This is known to be the Deus of the Latins, and the
Theos of the Greeks. Now by the confeffion of Plato
(in Cratylo)^ of Macrobius [Saturn^ lib. j.c. 24), and of
Plutarch (I/is ^ 0/iris), its root is thein^ which fignifies
to wander, like planein^ that is to fay, it is fynonimous
with planets ; hecaufe, all our authors, both the ancient
Greeks and barbarians particularly worfhipped the pla-
nets. I know that fuch enquiries into etymologies have
been much decried : but if, as is the cafe, words are the
reprefentative figns of ideas, the genealogy of the one
becomes that of the other, and a good etymological
didionary would be the moll: perfecl: hiflory of the hu-
man underfcanding. It would only be neceffary in this
enquiry to oKerve certain precautions, which have
hitherto
378 NOTES.
hitherto been neglecSled, and particularly to make an
txaB: comparifon of the value of the letters of the dif-
ferent alphabets. But, to continue our fubje£t, we fhall
add, that in the Phenician language, the word ibah
(with ain) fignlfies alfo to wander, and appears to be
the derivation of them. If we fuppofe Detts to be derived
from the Greek Zeus^ a proper name of Tou-piter^ having
%aWy I live, for its root, its kn^Q will be precifely that of
you^ and will me2.n foul of the world, igneous principle.
See Note (84). Dlv-us^ which only fignifies Genius,
God of the fecond order, appears to me to come from
tiie oriental word d'lv fubftituted for dib^ wolf and chacal,
one of the emblems of the fun. At Thebes, fays Ma-
crobius, the fun was painted under the form of a wolf or
chacal, for there are no wolves in Egypt. The reafon of
this emblem, doubtlefs, is that the. chacal, like the cock,
annoimces by its cries the fun's rifing; and this reafon is
confirmed by the analogy of the words lykos^ wolf, and lyke^
light of the morning, whence comes lux,
Diusy which is to be underftood alfo of the fun, muft
be derived from dihy a hawk. *' The Egyptians," fays
Porphyry [Eufeb. Pracep. Evang. p, 92.) " reprefent the
fun under the emblem of a hawk, becaufe this bird foars
to the higheft regions of air where light abounds." And
in reality we continually fee at Cairo large flights of thefe
birds, hovering in the air, from whence they defcend
not but to ftun us with their flirieks, which are like the
monofyllable dih : and here, as in the preceding example,
Tve find an analogy between the word dies^ day, light, and
Diusy God, Sun.
Page 278. (82). The progrcfs af fcience and difco-very*
One of the proofs that all thefe fyftems were invented in
5 Egypt,
NOTES. 379
Egypt, Is, that this is the only country where we fee a
complete body of doctrine formed from the remoteft an-
tiquity.
Clemens Alexandrlnus has tranfmitted to us {Stromas
lib. 6.}, a curious detail of the 42 volumes which were
l)orne in the proceflion of Ifis. " The prieft-," fays he,
« or chanter, carries ore of the fymbolic inftruments of
*' mufic, and two of the books of Mercury ; one contain-
'^ ing hymns of the Gods, the other the lift of kings.
" Next to him the horofcope (the regulator of time),
" carries a palm and a dial, fy mbols of aftrology ; he
'' iTiuft know by heart the four books of Mercury which
« treat of aftrology : the firft on the order of the planets;
*' the fecond on the rifmgs of the fun and moon, and
" the two laft on the rifmg and afpeft of the ftars*
" Then comes the facred author, with feathers on his
« head (like Kneph) and a book in his hand, together
" with ink, and a reed to write with (as is ftill the
*' pra(51:ice among the Arabs). He muft be verfed in
*' hieroglyphics, muft underftand the defcription of the
" univerfe, the courfe of the fun, moon, ftars, and
^' planets, be acquainted with the divifion of Egypt into
" 36 nomes, with the courfe of the Nile, with inftru-
*' ments, meafures, facred ornaments, and facred placesc
*' Next comes the ftole bearer, who carries the cubit of
" juftice, or meafure of the Nile, and a cup for the liba-
*' tions ; he bears alio in the proceiHon ten volumes on
« the fubjed of facrifices, hymns, prayers, ofterings,
*' ceremonies, feftivals. Laftly arrive^ the prophet, bear-
^« ing in his bofom a pitcher, fo as to be expofed to view ;
** he is followed by perfons carrying bread (as at the
** rnarj-ip.ge of Cana). This prophet, as prefident of the
^' mylieries.
3^b N O 1^ E S.
« myfleries, learns ten other Irxred volumes, which treat
" of the laws, the Gods, and the difciphne of the priefts.
*' Now there are in all forty-two volumes, thirty-fix of
« which are ftudicd and got by heart by thefc perfonao'c-s,
^ and the remaining fix are fet apart to be confulted b)'-
*f the pajiophores : they treat of medicine, the con{Lru6tion
" of the human body (anatomy), difeafes, remedies, in-
<« ftruments, kc, &c."
We leave the reader to deduce all the confequences
of fuch an Encyclopedia. It is afcribed to Mercury; but
Jamblicus tells us that each book, compofed by priefts, was
dedicated to that God, who, on account of his title of
Genius or decan opening the zodiac, prefided over every
enterprife. He is the 'Janus of the Romans, and the Gu'ia-
Tiefa of the Indians, and it is remiarkable that Janus and
Gulanes are homonymous. In fnort, it appears that thefe
books are the fource of all that has been tranfmitted to us
by the Greeks and Latins in every fcience, even in alchy-
my, necrom.ancy, &c. What is mod to be regretted in
their lofs, i^ that part which related to the principles of
medicine and diet, in which the Egyptians appear to have
made a confiderable progrefs, and to have delivered many
ufeful obfervations.
Page 279. (83). The relgmng religion in Lrj:(n- Bgvpt.
<« At a certain period," fays Plutarch (de Ifidc) " all tl\?:
Egyptians have their animal Gods painted. The The-
bans are the only people who do not employ paijiters, be-
caufe they wcrfhip a God whofc form comes not under
i!i\Q^ fcnfes, and cannot be reprefented. And this is the
God whoin Mofes, educated at Heliopolis, adopted i but
the idea was not of his invention.
Page 2S0. (84). JndTahouh. Such is th'i true pro-
nunciation
NOTES. 381
nuncration of the Jehovah of the moderns, who violate
in this refpect every rule of criticifm ; fince it is evident
that the ancients, particularly the Eaflern Syrians and
Phenicians, were acquainted neither with the ^e nor the
/"", which are of Tartar origin. The fubfifting ufage of
the Arabs, which we have re-eftablifhed here, is con-
firmed by Diodorus, who calls the God of Mofes law^
[I'lh. 1.), and law and lahouh are manifeftly the fame
word: the identity continues in that of lou-piter-, but in
order to render it more complete, we fhall demonftrate
the fio-nification to be the fame.
In Hebrew, that is to fay, in one of the diale6^s of the
common language of Lower Ana, Tahouh is the participle
of the verb h'lh^ to exift, to be, and fignifies exifting ; in
other words, the principle of life, the mover or even
rr.otion (the univerfal fcul of beings). Now what is
Jupiter ? Let us hear the Greeks and Latins explain their,
theology. " The Egyptians," fays Diodorus, after Ma-s
natho, priefl of Memphis, " in giving names to the five
elements, called Z^/;//, or ether, Toupitery on account of
the true meaning of that word: for fpirii is the fource of
life, author of the vital principle in animals; and for this
reafon they confidered him as the father, the generator of
beings." For the fame reafon Homer fays, father, and
king of men and gods {^Diod. lib. \.fe5i. i.)
" Theologians," fays Macrobius, " confider You-piter
as the foul of the world." Hence the words of Virgil •
" Mufes let us begin with You-piter; the world is full
of You-piter" [Bomn. Scip. ch. 17.) And in the Satur-
nalia he fays, " Jupiter is the fun himfelf." It was this
alfo which made Virgil fay : " The Spirit nourifiies the
^' life (of beings), and the foul difFufed through the vaft
" members
352 NOTES.
*« members (of the univerfe), agitates the whole mafs,
** and forms but one immenfe body.'*
"louplter,'* fays the ancient verfes of the Orphic
fe6V, which originated in Egypt; verfes colletSled by
Onomacritus in the days of Pififtratus, " loupiter, repre-
" fented with the thunder in his hand, is the beginning,
*' origin, end, and middle of all things : a fmgle and
" univerfal power, he governs every thing ; heaven,
" earth, fire, water, the elements, day, and night,
*' Thefe are what conftitute his immenfe body : his eyes
*^ are the fun and m.oon: he is fpace and eternity; in
** fine,'* adds Porphyry, " Jupiter is the world, the uni-
*^ verfe, that which conflitutes the effence and life of all
" beings. Now," continues the fame author, " as phi-
'' lofophers differed in opinion refpe£l:ing the nature and
" conllituent parts of this God, and as they could invent
" no figure that fhould reprefent all his attributes, they
*^ painted him in the form of man. ... He is in a fitting
" pofture, in allufion to his -immutable effence ; the
" upper part of his body is uncovered, becaufe it is in
" the upper regions of the univerfe, (the f^ars) that he
" mod confpicuoufly difplays himfelf. He is covered
*< from the waift downwards, becaufe refpeciing ter-
*' refirial things he is more fecret and concealed. He
" holds a fceptre in his left hand, becaufe on the left,
" fide is the heart, and the heart is the feat of the under-
*' {landing, which (in human beings) regulates every
" adion," Eufeh. Prape7\ Evang. p. lOO.
The following pafTage of the geographer and philofo-
pher Strabo, removes every doubt as to the identity of
the ideas of Mofes and thofe of the heathen theolo-
gians,
: r « Mofes,
NOTES. 383
» Mofes, who was one of the Egyptian priefts, taught
his folbwers, that it was an egregious error to reprefent
the Deity under the form of animals, as the Egyptians
did, or in the fliape of man, as was the pracSlice of the
Greeks and Africans. That alone is the Deity, fald he,
which conflitutes heaven, earth, and every living thing;
that which we call the worlds the fum of all things^ nature %
and no reafonable perfon will think of reprefenting fuch
a being by the image of any one of the objects around us.
It is for this reafon, that, reje<9:ing every fpecies of images
or idols, Mofes v/ifhed the Deity to be worfliipped with-
out emblems, and according to his proper nature ; and he
accordingly ordered a temple worthy of him to be erecSl-
ed, &c.'* Geograph. lib. 16. p, 1 104, edition of 1 707,
The theofogy of Mofes has, then, differed in no refpetSl
from that of his followers, that is to fay, from that of the
Stoics and Epicureans, who confiderthe Deity as the foul
of the world. This philofophy appears to have taken
birth, or to have been diffeminated when Abraham came
into Egypt (200 years before Mofes), fmce he quitted his
fyftem of idols for that of the God Tahouh ; fo that we
may place its promulgation about the feventeenth or
eighteenth century before Chrift; which correfponds v/ith
what we have faid, Note (78).
As to the hiftory of Mofes, Diodorus, properly repre-
fents it when he fays, lib. 34 ^ 40, " That the Jews
" ^were driven out of Egypt at a time of dearth, when the
" country was full of foreigners, and that Mofes, a man
« of extraordinary prudence and courage, feized this
" opportunity of eftablifhrng his religion in the moun-
*< tains of Judea." It will feem paradoxical to aflert,
that the 600,000 armed men whom he condudled thither
ought
3^4 NOTES.
ought to be reduced to 6,000 ; but I can confirm the
afTertion by (o many proofs drawn from the books them-
ielveSj that it will be necefTary to corre<5l an error which
.ippears to have arifen from the millake of the tranfcribers.
Page 280. (85). Ei, exijhnce. This was the-monofyl-
lable written on the gate of the temple of Delphos. Plu-
tarch has made it the fubjeft of a difTertation.
Page 28 1. ( 86).^T7;^ name cf OfirU preferved in hisfong,
Thefe are the literal expreffions of the book of Deutero-
nomy, ch. 32. " The works of Tjour are perfe6^." Now
Tfour has been tranflated by the word creator; its proper
fignification is tog\vefor?ns^ and this is one of the defini-
tions of Ofiris in Plutarch.
Page 284. (87). Of the Archangel ATichael, "The
^' names of the angels and of the months, fuch as Gabriel,
" Michael, Yar, Nifan, &c. came from Babylon with
^' the Jews ;" f:\ys exprefsly the Talmud of Jerufalem.
See Beaujob. Hiji. du Man'ich. Vol. II. p. 624, v/here he
proves that the faints df the Almanac are an imitation of
the 365 angels of the Perfians ; and Jamblicus in his
Egyptian Myfiieries, _/^'^. 2. c. 3. fpeaks of angels, arch-
angels, feraphim, &c. like a true Chriftian. '--'
Page 285. (08). Theology ofZoroaJhr. " The whole phi-
^* Icfophy of the gymnofophifts," fays Diogenes Laertius
on the authority of an ancient writer, '' is derived from
'' that of the Magi, and many afTert that of the Jews to
'' have the fame origin." Lib. 1. c. 9. MagaPchenes, an
hiftorian of repute in the days of Seieucus Nicanor, and
who wrote particularly upon India, fpeaking of the pni-
lofopy of the ancients refpefting natural things, puts
the Brachmans and the Jews preciiel^' on the fame foot-
NOTES. 335
P'Sig^ 287. (89). To rejlore the golden age upon earth.
This is the reafon of the application of the many Pagan
oracles to Jefus, and particularly the fourth eclogue of
Virgil, and the Sybilline verfes fo celebrated among the
ancients.
Page 288. (90). At the expiration of the fix thoufand
pretended years. We have already feen, note 29, this tra-
dition current among the Tufcans ; it was difleminated
through moft nations, and fliows us what we ought to
think of all the pretended creations and terminations of
the world, which are merely the beginnings and endings
of aftronomical periods invented by aftrologers. That of
the year or folar revolution, being the moft iimple and per-
ceptible, ferved as a model to the reft, and its comparlfon
gave rife to the moft whimfical ideas. Of this defcription
is the idea of the four ages of the world among the In-
dians. Originally thefe four ages were merely the four
feafons ; and as each feafon was under the fuppofed in-
fluence of a planetj it bore the name of the metal appro-
priated to that planet: thus fpring was the age of the
fun, or of gold ; fummer the age of the moon, or of filver 5
antumn the age of Venus, or of brafs ; and winter the
age of Mars, or of iron. Afterwards when aftronomers
invented the great year of 25 and 36 thoufand common
years, which had for its obje£i: the bringing back all the
ftars to one point of departure and a general conjunction,
the ambiguity of the terms introduced a ftmilar ambi-
guity of ideas; and the myriads of celeftial -figns and
periods of duration which were thus meafured, were eafily
converted into fo many revolutions of the fun. Thus the
different periods of creation which have been fo great a
fource of difficulty and mifapprehenfion to curious en-
C e quirers.
3S6 NOTES.
qu'.rers, were in reality nothing more than hypotheticai
calculations .f afironomical periods In the fame manner
the creation of the world has been attributed to different
feafons of the year, juft as thife difFerent feafons have
fcrved for the ficticious period of thefe cojijunclions ; and
of ccnfequer.ee iias^been adop:ed by difterent nations for
the commencement of an ordinary yvar. Among the
Egyptrans this period fell upon the fumtr.er follHce, vwhich
was the commencement of their year ; and t.:ie departure
of the fpheres, according to their conjedures, fell, in like
j-nanner, upon the period when the fun enters Cancer,
Among the Perfians the year commenced at firft in the
fpring, or when the fun enters Aries; and fiom thence
thefirft Chriftians were led to fuppofe that G-od created
the world in the flaring : this opinion is alfo f.ivoured by
the book ct Geneus ; and it is farther remarkable, that
the world is not there faid to be created by the God of
Mofes (Tahouh)^ but by the klohun or gods in the plural,
that is, by the anieh or gmii^ for fo the word conftantly
means in fhe Hebrew books. If we farther obfervc that
the root of the word Ehhim fignifies ftrong or pov/erful,
and tnat the Egyptians called their decam llrong and pow-
erful kr-Jers, attributing to them the creation of ihe world,
we fhall prefentiy perceive that the book of Genelis af-
llrms neither more nor lefs than that the world was created
by, the decans^ by thufe very genii whom, according to
Sanchouiathon, Mercury e: cited againft Saturn, and who
were called Eiohim. It may be fafther afked, why the
plural fubflantive Eioh'im is made to agree with the fin-
gular verb hara (the Klohim creates). The reafon is, that
p.fter the" BabyloniOi captivity the unity of the Supreme
lacing was the prevailinj; opinion cf the Jews; it was
' ^ therefore
NOTES. 387
therefore thought proper to introduce a pious folecifm
in language, which it is evident had no exiftence before
Mofes : thus in the names of the children of Jacob many
of them are compounded of a plural verb, to u^hich Elo-*
him is the nominative cafe underftoodj as Raouhcn (Reu-
ben), ihey have looked upon ?ne^ and Samao72iti (Simeon),
they have granted me rny -prayer-^ to wit, the Eiohim. The
reafon of this etymology is to be found in the religious
creeds of the wives of Jacob, whofe gods were the tai'<i^
phlm of Laban, that is, the angels of the Perfians, and the
Egyptian decan?.
Page id. (91). Six thoujand years had aheady 77£arly
elapfedfmce the j^uppofed creation of the zvorld. According
to the computation of the Seventy, the period elapfed^con-
fifled of about 5,600 years, and this computation was
principally followed. It is well known how much, in the
firil ages of the church, this opinion of the end of the
zvorld agitated the minds of men. In the fequel, the ge-
neral councils, encouraged by finding that the general con-
flagration did not come, pronounced the expectation that
prevailed heretical, and its believers were called Millena-
rians ; a circumftance curious enough, fince it is evi-
dent from the hiftory of the Gofpels that Jefus Chrifl
was a Millenarian, and of confequence a heretic*
Page 290. (92). Conjlellation of the ferpent. "The
^« Perfians," fays Chardin, « call the conftellation of the
*« ferpent Ophiucus, {erpent of Eve: and this ferpent Ophi-
" ucus or Ophtoneus plays a fimilar part in the theology of
<« the Phenicians,** for Pherecydes, their difciple, and the
mafter of Pythagoras, laid " that Ophionem ferpentinns had
« been chief of the rebels againft Jupiter/' See Marfl
C c a Ficin.
388 NOTES.
Ficin. ApoL Socrit. p. m. 797. col. 2. I ihall add that
aphah (with am) fignifies in Hebrew ferpent.
Page id. (93). Seduced the maru In a phyfical fenfe to
feduce, fsducere^ means only to attrad^, to draw after us.
Pa-^e id. (94). Figure of Mithriu See this picture in
Hyde, page ill, edition of 1 760.
Page 291. (95). Per feus r'ljes on the cppofje ftde. Ra-
ther the head of Medufaj that head of a woman once fo
b'jautiful, which Perfeus cut ofF, and which he holds in his
hand, is only that of the virgin, whofe head fmks below
the horizon at the very moment that Perfeus rifcs ; and
the ferpents which furround it are Ophiucus and the
Polar Dragon, who then occupy the zenith. This fhews
•us in what manner the ancients compofed all their figures
and fables. They took fuch conftellations as they found
at the fame time on the circle of the horizon, and col-
lecling the different parts, they formed groupes which
ferved them as an almanac in hieroglyphic chnra6Lers.
Such is the fecret of all their pi6lure=, and the folution
of all their mjthological monfters. The Virgin is alfo
Andromeda, delivered by Perfeus from the whale that
purjues her (pro-feqnitur.)
Page id. (96). By a chnfte virgin. Such was the pic-
ture of the Perfian fphere, cited by Aben Ezra in the Cce"
li'.m Pceiicum of Blaeu, p. 71. " The picture of the firft
" decan of the Vi-rgin," fays that writer, " reprefents a
*^ beautiful virgin with flowing hair, fitting in a chair,
*^ with two ears of corn in her hand, and fuckling an infant,
" called Jefus by fome nations, and Chrift in Greek."
In the library of the king of France is a manufcript in
Arabic, marked 1165, in which is a picture of the twelve
ligns ;
NOTES. 389
figns; and that of the Virgin reprefents a young woman
vvith an infant by her fide : the whole fcene indeed of the
birth of Jefus is to be found in the acijacent part of the
heavens. The ftable is the conftcllation of the charioteer
and the goat, formerly Capricorn j a conftellation called
prtsfepe Jovis Hen'iochi^Jiahle of Iou\ and the word lou is
found in the name lou-feph (Jofeph). At no great dif-
tance is the afs of Typhon (the great (he-bear), and the
ox or bull, the ancient attendants of the manger. Peter
the porter, is Janus with his keys and bald forehead : the
twelve apoftles are the genii of the twelve months, &c.
This Virgin has a6led very different parts in the various
fyftems of mythology: fhe has been the Ifis of the Egyp-
tians, who faid of her in one of their infcriptions cited
by Julian, the fniit I have brought forth is the fw2. Th^
majority of traits drawn by Plutarch apply to her, in the
fame manner as thofe of Ofiris apply to Bootes : alfo the
feven principal f^arsof the flie-bear, called David's chariot,
were called the chariot of Ofiris (See Kirker)\ and the
crown that is fituated behind, formed of ivy, was called
Chen ■ Ofiris^ the tree of Ofiris. The Virgin has likewife
been Ceres, whofe myfterics were the fame with thofe of
Ifis and Alirhraj fhe has been the Diana of the Ephe-
lians ; the great goddefs of Syria, Cybele, drawn by lions;
Minerva, the mother of Bacchus \ Aftraea, a chafte vir-
gin taken up into heaven at the end of the golden age ;
Thems, at whofe feet is the balance that was put in her
hands ; the Sybil of Virgil, who defcends into hell, or
finks belov/ the hemifphere with a branch in her hand,
5fc.
Page 292. (97). Rofe again in the firmament, Rcfurgere^
t.o rife a fecon j time, cannot fignify to return to life, but
C c 3 in
390 NOTES.
in a metaphorical fenfe ; but we fee continually miilakes
of this kind refult from the ambiguous meaning of the
words made ufe of in ancient tradition.
Page id. (98 \ Chris^or confcrvator. The Greeks ufed
to exprefs by X, or Spanifh iota, the afpirated ha of the
Orient J-, who faid harh. In Hebrew heres fignifies the
fan, but in Arabic the meaning of the mdical word is, to
guard, to preferve, and of haris.^ guardian, preferver.
It is the proper epi.het of Vichenou, which demonflrates
at once the identity of the Indian and Chriftian Trinities,
ana their common origin. It is manifeftly but one fyftem,
which, divided into two branches, one extending to the
eaft, and the other to the weft, afTumed two different
forms : its principal trunk is the Pythagorean fyftemi of
the foul of the v/orld, or lou-tiier. The epithet />/>ir, or
father, having been applied to the demi-ourgos of Plato,
gave rife to an ambiguity which caufed an enquiry to be
made rcfpeding the fon of this father. In the opinion of
the philofophers the fen was underftanding, A^i;;:j and Logos-^
from which the Latins made their Ferbu??i, And thus we
clearly perceive the origin of the eternal father and of the
Verhum his fon, proceeding from him (Mens ex Deo nata^
fays Macrobius) : the anima or fpirit us inundi was the Holy
Ghoft ; and it is for this reafon that Mane?, Bafilides,
Valentinius, and other pretended heretics of the firft
-■ ages, who traced things to their fource, faid, that God
the Father was the fupreme inacceilibje light (that of the
heaven, the primum mcbiky or the aplanes) ; the Son the
feccndary light refident in the fun, and the Holy Ghoft
the atmofphere of the earth (See Bcaufcb.Y o\, II. p. 586):
hence, among the Syrians, the reprefentation of the Holy
Ghoft by a dove, the bird of Venus Urania, that is, of
the
NOTES. 3^
the air. The Syrians (fays Nigldius de Germanic o) afiert
that a dove fat for a certain number of davs on the egg of
a fiih, and that from this incubation Venus was born :
Sextus Empiricus airoobfcrves {hji. Pyrrh. lib. 3. c. 23.)
that th2 Syrians abftain from eating doves ; whic:;. iad*
mates to us a period commencing in the hgn Pifces^ in the
winter folftice. We may farther obftrve, that if Chris
comes from Harifch by a chin^ it v/ill Tignify artificer^ an
epithet belonging to the fun. Thefs variations, v^hich
muft have enibarrafL-d the ancients, prove it to be the real
type of Jcfus, as had been already remarked in the time of
Tertullian. " xvlany," fays this writer, " fuppof^ with
*' greater probability that the fun is our God, ^nd they re-
*' ftr us to the religion of the Pcrfan;:." Jpokget. c. 16.
Page 293. (99). One of the jolar periods. See a curious
ode to the Sun, by Martianus Capelln, tranflated by Ge-
belin.
Page 304. (100). Human facrijiccs. Read the coJjd
declaration of Eufebius fPnsp. Evang. lib. i. p. 11.)
who pretends that, fmce the coming of Chrift, there have
neither been wars, nor tyrants, nor cannibals, nor fodo-
mites, nor petfons committing incell, nor favages devour-
ing their parents, &c. When we read thefe fathers of
the church, we are adonifned at their inuncerity or in-
facuation.
Page 306. (lOi). Se'l of Samaneans. The equality of
mankind in a ftate of nature, and in tne eyes of God, was
©ne of the principal tenets of ihe Samaneans, and they
appear to be the only ancients that entertained this opi-
nion.
Page 309. (102.) Perverted the confciences of men. As
long as it fhall be poJible to obtain purification from
C c 4. crimes,
392 NOTE S.
Climes, and exemption from punifhment by means of
money or other frivolous pradlices ; as long as kings and
crcat men fhall fuppofe that building temples or infti-
tU'ing foundations, v/ill abfolve them from the guilt of
oppreiHon and homicide ; as long as individuals flrall ima-
gine that they may rob and cheat, provided they obferve
■f:.{i during Lent, go to confefTion, and receive extreme
un6lion, it is impolTible there ihould exift in fociety any
morality or virtue; and it is from a deep convidion of
truth, that a modern philofopher has called the dodrinc
of expiations la vercle desfocictcs.
Pa^e 310. (103). Has carried its itiqtafulone'uentQ the
facred farMuary of the nuptial bed. The MufTulmans, who
fuppofe v/omen to have no fouls, are fhocked at the idea
of confeffion, and hy ; How can an honeft man think of
liftening to the recital of the ailions or the fecret thoughts
of a woman ? May we not alfo afk, on the other hand,
how can an honeft woman confent to reveal them ?
Page id. ( 104). That every where they had formed jeer et
ajjociations^ enemies to the reft of the fociety. That we may
underftand the general feelings of prlefts refpe61:ing the
reft of mankind, whom they always call by the name of
the people, let us hear 6r\Q of the do6lors of the church.
*'- The people," faysBiftiopSynnefius, in Cahit. page 315,
*' are defirous of being deceived, we cannot act otherwife
" refpe61:ing them. The cafe was fimilar with the ancient
" priefts of Egypt, and for this reafon they (hut them-
" fclves up in their temples, and there compofed their
" myfteries out of the reach of the eye of the people.'^
And forgetting what he has juft before faid, he adds— -
*' For bad the people been in the fecret, they might have
*' been offended at the deception played upon them. In
" the
NOTES, 393
" the mean time how is it pofliWe to condu6i: onefelf
« otherwlfe with the people To long as they are the
*» people ? For my ov/n part, to myfelf I fhali always be
*' a philofopher, but in dealing with the mafs of man-
« kind I fiiali be a prieft."
" A little jargon," fays Qregory Nazianzen to St.
Jerome (Hieron» ad Nep.) *' is all that is necefTary to
" impofe on the people. The lefs they comprehend, the
<« more they admire. Our forefathers and doctors of
" the church have often faid, not what they thought,
« but what circumftances and necelTity dictated to
« them.'*
" We endeavour," fays Sanchoniathon, " to excite ad-
" miration by means of the marvellous." (Pr^ep. Evang,
i'i. 30
Such was the condudl of all the priefts of antiquity, and
is ftill that of the Bramins and Lamas, who are the exa<3:
counterpart of the Egyptian priefts. Such was the prac-
tice of the Jefuits, who marched with hafty ftrides in the
fame career. It is ufelefs to point out the whole depravity
of fuch a doflrine. In general every aflbciation which has
myflery for- its bafis, or an oath of fecrecy, is a league of
robbers againft fociety, a league divided in its verybofom
into knaves and dupes, or in other words agents and in-
ftruments. It is thus we ought to judge of thofe modern
clubs, which, under the name of lUuminatifts, Martinifts,
Cagliofi:ronift:s, Free-mafons and Mefmerites, infeft Eu-
rope. Thefe focieties ape the follies and deceptions of the
ancient Cabalifts, Magicians, Orphics, Sec. who, fays
Plutarch, led into errors of confiderable magnitude not
only individuals, but kings and nations.
Page 311. ( 1 06). They made thsfnfelvss in turns ajiro*
log€rSj,
394 NOTES.
logers-i cajlers of planets^ niagiclans^ Sec. What is a ma-
gician, ill the lenfe in which the people undcriland the
ward ? a man \vho by words and <j;elh]res pretends to aft
on fupernatural beings, and compel them to defcend at his
call and obey his orders. Such was the condu6r of the
ancient priefts, and fuch is flill that of all prlefts in ido-
latrous nations, for which reafon we have given them the
denomination of mao-icians,
^ijd when a Chriftian prieft pretends to make God
defeend from heaven, to fix him to a morfel of leaven,
and to render, by means' of this talifraan, fouls pure and
in a ikte of grace, what is all this but a trick of magic- ?
And where is the diiference between a Chaman of Tartary
who invokes the genii, or an Irdian Bramin, who makes
his VichenoLi deicend in a veflel of water co drive av/ay
evil fpirits ? Yes, the identity of the fpirit of pnefts in
every age and country is fully eftabliihed ! Every where |
it is the ailumption of an exclufive privilege, the pretended
iacuity of moving at will the powers of nature ; and this
aflumption is fo direct a violation of the right of equality,
that whenever the people fhall regain their importance,
they will for ever aboliih this facrilegious kind of nobility,
v.'hich has been the type and parent ftock of the other
fpecies of nobility.
Page 312. (107). JVho paid for them as fcr commodities
of the greateji value, A curious v/ork would be the com-
parative hiftory of the agnufes of the pope and the paflih
of the grand Lama. It would be woith while to extend
this idea to religious ceremonies in general, and to con-
tVont, column by column, the analogous or contralling
pojnts of faith and fuperftitious practices in all nations.
There is one more fpecies of fuperftition which it would
be
NOTES. 395
be equally falutary to cure, blind ve;ieration for the great;
and for this purpole it would be alone fuincient to write
a minute detail cf the private life of kings and princes.
No work could be fo philofophical as this ; and accord-
ingly we have feen what a general outcry was excited
among kings and the panders of icings, when the /Anec-
dotes of the Court of Berlin hrft appeared. What
would be the alarm were the public put in pofTeilion of
the fequel of this work ? Were the people fairly ac-
quainted with all the crimes and all the abfurdities of
this fpecies of idol, they would no longer be expofed to
covet their fpecious pleafures, of which the plaufible and
hollow appearance difturbs their peace, and hinders them
from enjoying the much more Tolid happineis of their owa
cendition.
INDEX.
,i.l.. IC J-
A
INDEX.
A,
GE, new . - - -
Ariftocracy > - -
Aftronomy, origin of the ftudy of
_«. antiquity of - - -
— — foiirce of mythology 360,
Authority, paternal, remarks on
B.
Babylon - - -
built after Nineveh
Jiooks, borne in the proceffion of Ifis
Brama, religion of - »
Budoifm - -
C,
Celellial bodies, invention of names for
Chacal, animal like the fox
China, government of - -
-~- obftacle to the improvement of
Chrift, etymology of the name of
on the proofs of the exiftence of
Chriftianity - - - -
Circumcilion, origin of - -
Civil war - - -
Confeffion, remarks on -
D.
Demi-o'urgos, worfhip of the
Democracy - - -
Defpotifm - - -
Doubt not a crime
Dualifm - - - -
E.
Egypt, firft civilized country
' ■ Lower^ whence peopled
various religions originated from
Empires, revolutions of - -
— i caufes of the profperity of -
■ revolutions of -
Ethiopia, ancient - - -
the cradle of fcience
Etymology, obfervations on - *
Page
125
••
64
-
- 232, 258
36^
72»
385, 387, 388
- 336
-
334
-
335
379
-
165, 199,28s
~
28i
-
2.S7
■4
-
340
- - 341
292, 390
-
355
158.
186,283,304
-
370
-
- 6;
310, 39»
-
274
-
6$
- 655 33^
-
117
-
- 253
-
- 235
-
331
- - 353
-
- • 2
- - 5i» 57
- -
- - 53^^'
- 328, 330
-
33£
-
377
Euphrates,
Pa^e
—
334
■"
14
»
32S
-
lOI
-
125
348,
386
-
H
-
226
-
339
-
377
-
4^
63:
> 34C>
-
92
336.
' 337
I63:
»i94
INDEX*
EupBraf^?, banks of the, artincial -
Evils tccafioned by man, not by God
f.
Fatalifm, remarks on - -
French about to engage in a war for the Turks, note -
■ i-evohition - -
G.
Ger.efis, remarks on fome parts of - -
God not the caufe of our evils
— — origin of the ider. of - -
niyfterious name of - -
on the name oi -
Governmient, origin of » - -
various kinds of - -
" corruptions of - -
Guebres , - - -
H.
Hieroglyphics - - - - • - 363
I-:-
Idolatry - - - - -237
fource of - - - - - - 361
liiiprovement, grand obiiacle to - - - -117
Indian fects . - - - 164, 199, 282
Ifi?, books borne in the prccefTjon of - - - - 379
Jefus, etymology of the name of - - ----292
Judaifm ----- 162, 190, 279
K.
Kings, obfervations on - - - - 337,395
L.
I.ama, religion of the - - - - 169, 204
I^ws, origin of - - - - - 4B
obfervations on- - - - - -5<^
Liberty originates from equality ----- 342
M.
Mahometanifm _ - - _ - i^-, 180, 303, 339
Man, the caufe of his ov/n misfortunes - - 17, 313
condition of, in the univerfe - - -. - 33
»■ original Hate of- -- - -37
— - — how brought into a Hate of fociety - - - 40
— — fource of the evils attendant on, in fociety - - 44
— • — in a flate of improvem.ent - - - - 104
•— — grand obftacle to the impro^-cment of - - - 117
»—— rights of --.-.-- 136,348
Man,
I N D" E X.
Page
Man, natural equality of - - - - - - 13 7)3 3'^
Mithriacs, ancient, the fame with the modern Parfes - 349
Monarchy - - - - -64, 337
Mofes, religion of - ' ^' . 162, 190, 279, 38i
on tlie antiquity of the books afcribed to - - 347
Myilerles, ancient -- - - -37^
— 1 modern. - - - - 374> 393
Mvilical, or moi% wcrfliip - - - - -259
O.
Oph"r, (ituation of - - - - - 327
Opinion, \\ lience arife difference and agreement of - 315
Orphics, who - - - - ' 11^
P.
Parfes - - - . . 163,194, 2'8i
People, free and legiflalive - - => - - 13^
. rights of the - - - - - 136
P^rfia, unfortunate ftate of, after the death of Tharaas
Koulikan . . - _ - 53Q
Priellcrart, origin of - - - - -245
-— — every where tli€ feme - - - - - 310,39.2
Privileged orders - _ - - 127,248,341
R.
Religions, various - - -- - ^ ^^%
derived from Egypt - - - - 353
end of all, the fame _ « - - 2^7
Religious ideas, origin of - - - - 2i8, 294
Revolutions of empires - - _ - - %
^. — caufes of - - - 51? ^^
Pvomans, on the freedom of the - - - ^337
S.
Sabeifm - - - '» -' -231
Samaneans, religion of the _ - - 282, 391
Science, cravlle of - - - - 23^,331
Self-love, the principle of fociety - - - - 43
— —— — efrecis of - * - ~ - 40, 4^., 50
Slavery, obfervations on - - - - '62
Societies, fecret, remarks on - - « - 393
Society, origin of - - . - - - 40
— — — fource of the evils of - - - 44
evils of, how to be avoided - - - - 100
on privileged orders in - - - 127, 341
Solomon, trade of - - - - - 332^
Soul of the world, worfliip of the - - 271, 279, 381
—— ancient opinions concerning the - - - 375
Soul,
INDEX.
Page
Soul, irnrrortalit^ of the, not taught by ivlofes - - 376"
Spheres Of the ancients - - - - _ ^5^
State, future, origin of the do(flrine of a - - - 2^9
States, caufes of the revolutions of - - 53561
■ rife of - - - - 54, 90
——- ancient, caufes of the profperity of - - - 57
— , . revolutions and ruin of - 61
weakened by enlargement - -^ - - 67
caufes of the fall of - - - - 92
Syria, populoufnefs of - - - - -328
T.
Talifmans - - - - - -36r
Tartars, evacuate the Crimea on its being incorporated
with Ruffia - - - - - 3^7.
drefs, &c. of - » - - - 338
Thebes - - - - _ _ . ^29
Theocracy - - - - - - 64.
Trade of the ancients - - - - 3 '3 2
Trinity, origin of the doctrine of the - - - - 276
Truth, inquiry into - - - - 1 72
Turks, Sultan of the, cannot cede land to unbelievers 338
U. V.
Univerfe, worflriip of the, under dirterent emblems - 266
Venality - - - - - "94
W.
War, obfervations on - • - - 340
World, on the creation of the - - - - 348
" antiquity of the . - . - 360, 385
W^ordjipcfthe elements, and the phyficai powers of nature, 227
fymbols - - - - - 237
. two principles - - - - - 253
■■ myftical or moral - - 2£;9
of the univerfe under different em.blems - 266
.. foul of the world, or of the element of
fire - - - - - 271, 279
— — Demi-ourgos, or fupreme artificer 274
Zoroafter, religion of 163. 194, 281, 33.^
Plate I .
\l . Oinua .
4 . J^.
S- Ball
6. Fd'A
7 . I'^ch
■ (.oiufhiiUinoplc
J^a-^ft! .
INDEX.
Page
Soul, immortality of the, not taught by Tvlofes - - 376'
Spheres of the ancients - _ - . _ 367
State, future, origin of the doftrine of a - - - 259
States, caufes of the revolutions of - - ?.3, 61
rife of - - - - 54, 90
— — ancient, caufes of the profperity of - - - 57
_ revolutions and ruin of - 61
weakened by enlargement - -^ - .-67
caufes of the fall of - - - - 92
Syria, populoufnefs of - - - - -328
T.
Talifmans - - - -_- - ^6r
Tartars, evacuate the Crimea on its being incorporated
with Ruffia - - - - - 327.
=- dreis, &c. of - ^ - - - 358
Thebes - - 329
Theocracy - - - - - - 64.
'Trade of the ancients - - - - 3 '3 2
Trinity, origin of the do6lrine of the - - - - 276
Truth, inquiry into - - - - 17-
Turks, Sultan of the, cannot cede land to unbelievers 338
U. V.
Univerfe, worfhip of the, under dirterent emblems - 266
Venality - - - - - "94
W.
War, obfervations on - • - - 340
World, on the creation of the - - - - 34-8
— antiquity of the . - . - 360, 385
WoriTiip of the elements, and the phyfical powers of nature, 22 7
• fymbols - - - - - ^3 7
. — two principles - - - - - -53
m. mvftical or moral .. - _ 259
cfthe univerfe under different em.blems • 266
--—_.—— foul of the world, or of the element of
fire - - - - _- 271, 279
^ — Demi-ourgos, or fupreme artificer 274
Z.
Zoroafter, religion of - - - - - 163.194,281,33.^
IM-.Uo 1 .
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